Heart of the Warrior Book VII
by MadnessPersonified
Summary: The seventh and final book in the series. Old enemies, new enemies, and a dangerous force that puts all of humanity in peril. On top of that, the most dangerous enemy of Harry may be himself. Crossover with TMNT 2003, HarryGinny pairing.
1. Chapter 1: Dragon's Brew

**Chapter One: The Dragon's Brew:**

Narcissa Malfoy walked down a winding, dark stone corridor, an apprehensive look etched on her normally confident and self assured face. She had been summoned to stand before the Dark Lord. Weeks previously, her son, Draco had gone missing and it did not take much to tie the Dark Lord's request for a meeting together with that fact. Raising her hand, Narcissa calmly knocked three times on the wooden door leading to the Dark Lord's office.

"Enter," prompted Voldemort softly from the inside of the office, and Narcissa hastened in obeying, pushing the door open, before she knelt down before the Dark Lord. "To your feet Narcissa."

Narcissa once again did as she was told, as the Dark Lord surveyed her through narrowing red eyes. Also, she noticed her sister, Bellatrix, standing by the Dark Lord's side, her scarred face covered with a rubber mask and her wand arm replaced by a steel prosthetic after the Mudblood had sliced her arm off in the battle.

"What do you wish of me, my Lord?" asked Narcissa.

"Narcissa, your son has been missing for nearly a month now," responded Voldemort calmly. "He has deserted his master and betrayed our cause. I cannot allow this transgression to go unpunished."

"My Lord, I beg of you, I have no idea where Draco has gone off to," replied Narcissa who was telling the truth and also extremely worried, her son had made many enemies with his attempted murder of Harry Potter and if anyone had caught up to Draco, she shuddered to think of what would happen.

"I sense no signs of deception, Narcissa," remarked Voldemort calmly. "Your son's disappearance remains much as a mystery to you as it does to the rest of us. Yet, all loose ends must be tied up before those worthy seize control of Britain. After Oroku Saki's treachery, everything must be restructured and Draco must be sufficiently punished for his crimes."

Voldemort paused and looked at Narcissa with a calculating look on his face.

"Someone must pay for his crimes and pay they will," continued Voldemort in an absolute chilling tone. "I still have a use for Lucius but Narcissa, you are quite expendable."

"You're going to kill me, my Lord?" asked Narcissa fearfully, as she was petrified, unable to move but the Dark Lord responded with a cold, high laugh.

"No, Narcissa, I am not going to kill you," said Voldemort softly before he turned his head slightly. "Bella will."

"My Lord?" asked Bellatrix in a surprised, shocked voice, as she stepped forward.

"Bella let me make this clear, either you kill your sister or I'll kill you," ordered Voldemort in his most chilling voice and Bellatrix stepped forward, her legs shaking, as she awkwardly held her wand with her good arm. She looked at Narcissa for about ten seconds, with almost an apologetic look on her face.

"It has to be done, Narcissa," remarked Bellatrix in a somber tone as she pointed her want at her sister. "Avada Kedavra."

A green jet of light escaped Bellatrix's wand and impacted Narcissa right in the chest. Narcissa thumped to the ground and was absolutely motionless. Bellatrix stepped back, having murdered her own sister on the orders of Lord Voldemort.

"You've done well Bellatrix, and now I shall forgive your little humiliation at the hands of the Mudblood during the trial siege of Hogwarts," remarked Voldemort softly. "You have proven once again that you live to serve Lord Voldemort without question and will continue to serve, as long as you live."

"Of course, my Lord," said Bellatrix as she bowed as Voldemort waved her off with his hand dismissively and Bellatrix took it as her cue to leave.

New York City was always a bustling area, as it was truly a city that never slept, there was always some sort of activity. Unfortunately, many times, this activity had to do with crime, as there did seem to be a fair bit plaguing the city. Even after the Foot had dropped off the criminal map when the Shredder was killed three weeks previous, there were many others who had the ambition to pick up where the Foot left off. It didn't really matter much in areas considering petty thievery and graffiti, those would always be around, but the Foot had lead with the grander scale heists along with most of the big time operations. A mysterious rash of criminal activity around the city, high stakes crimes, had left the city authorities completely baffled at who was behind it. The criminals were not small time operators, they were after big time technology targets like the government labs and top notch scientific research outfits.

Hailey Potter, in her guise as the vigilante named the Black Phantom, was as baffled at the origin of these high level crimes as the rest of the city, but that was more of her older brother Harry's area of interest and up to his skill level. While Hailey was confident she improved her training, both magically and in ninjitsu, there were some things that Harry could handle with ease that she would fall flat on her face in doing. These thoughts ran through her mind, as she watched a pair of shady looking characters exit a van. Hailey looked down, not wanting to jump to any conclusions but the fact that one of the men had pulled out a crowbar to attempt to pry open the front door of a building clinched the fact they were not up to any good. Gracefully, Hailey jumped down, before she stepped in front of the two hoodlums who paused when they realized they had company.

"Now, boys, I think business hours are long over," remarked Hailey but the two criminals turned to her, before they cracked their knuckles.

"Out of the way sweetheart, and let us conduct some business," grunted one of the thugs.

"And maybe we can conduct some business at my place later," added the second thug with a leer but Hailey calmly sprung up and cracked the thug in the mouth with a vicious punch, coupled with a slight wandless bone breaking hex. The criminal fell to the ground, nursing a broken jaw.

"You bitch, I'll make you pay!" bellowed the first criminal as he raised his crowbar, attempting to club Hailey's head in but she calmly withdrew a crossbow, before quickly loading it with an arrow. In the blink of an eye, she disarmed the crowbar wielding criminal and the criminal decided to turn tail and run but Hailey somersaulted in the air, before she landed in front of the criminal.

"Now it's not nice to run out on a lady," remarked Hailey, before she caught the thug off balance with a kick. Without another word, Hailey quickly bound two criminals together, leaving them gift wrapped for whenever the police had showed up.

Before Hailey could leave, she saw an armored truck speed by and she did a double take, she spotted Harry, hanging onto the back of the truck. Harry seemed to be in pursuit of someone, Merlin only knows who, as Harry had his share of enemies both in the Wizarding World and in the city of New York, even after the demise of the Shredder. She watched as a tattooed arm was stuck out the window and aimed what appeared to be a Federation laser blaster at Harry. A couple of blasts, and Harry lost his balance, before he flew off the back of the back of the truck. Hailey just barely suppressed her urge to scream, as the logical part of her brain reminded her that by showing way too much concern would blow her cover. As Ginny had once pointed out, the only reason that Harry had not put together the facts of her being the Black Phantom, is because Harry really had no reason to suspect her. So, carefully, as a concerned observer, as opposed to his sister, Hailey made her way over, even though the inside, she was scared to death that Harry had seriously injured himself when he was thrown off the back of the truck.

Harry shook the cobwebs, thankfully managing to brace the impact of his fall. With his brothers and Master Splinter suffering from injuries with their epic final battle with the Shredder, along with Ginny visiting the Burrow for the day, his mother once again following a lead on a Horcrux, hoping this one did not turn out to be a dead end and Hailey up in her room, doing homework as she prepared for her fourth year, Harry had to go it alone tonight to investigate these crimes. The first few hours had lead to nothing but Harry ran right into someone who was making off with an armored truck full of confiscated black market weaponry. It lead to Harry just managing to hitch a ride but the man who he was pursuing had in fact gave him the slip.

"Are you okay?" asked a voice.

"Fine, I just broke my fall with a cushioning…." explained Harry before he paused, as he turned around to see the Black Phantom standing right before him. "Oh it's you, what are you doing out here?"

"I suppose I could ask the same for you, citizen," replied the Black Phantom coolly in a slightly disguised voice, which earned her a stern look from Harry.

"If you must know, there has been a new, mysterious rash of criminal activity plaguing the city," replied Harry in a testy voice. "I've been following it on the news, and I can't really put my finger on who's behind it at all."

"What can I do to help?" asked the Black Phantom, even if she knew what the answer to the question already and knew she was not going to like it.

"You can go home and leave me to my work," replied Harry swiftly. "Your attentions are admirable, but I can handle this myself, the last thing I want is someone to get in too over their head and get injured."

"How many times do I need to help you to prove myself?" demanded the Black Phantom.

"If you want to prove yourself then perhaps you should remove that mask, to show your true face to me" replied Harry calmly and the Black Phantom stepped back, obviously having no desire to comply with that request.

"The disguise is merely a precaution, if anyone found out who I was, they would come after me and everyone I care about, even more so then they do now," said the Black Phantom, perhaps saying a bit too much and Harry seemed to be mulling something over in his mind, conflicted a little bit perhaps, as Hailey averted her face slightly, avoiding Harry's eyes. If Harry wanted to, he could use legilimency and find out exactly who the Black Phantom is.

"Fine, if you want to help me, you can, but you'll going to follow everything I say, exactly," said Harry in a firm voice, that left no room whatsoever for any argument, as he placed temporary Muggle repelling charms in the area around him . "Have I made myself clear?"

"Crystal, citizen," replied the Black Phantom as she nodded up and down slowly, before Harry raised his wand. "Mind if I ask what we're doing?"

"If I can magically pick up a trail from the truck tires, the person behind this can be easily traced," replied Harry calmly, as he waved his wand a couple of times up and down, before tire tracks illuminated in a yellow shade on the road, as they appeared to turn down a side road, leading to a train station. "This way, but stick to the shadow and don't draw attention to yourself."

At said train station, a trio of very tough individuals boarded a train. They belonged to one of the most premier street gangs in all of New York City, the Purple Dragons. As a result of recent events, most prominently the end of the Foot, the Purple Dragons have moved up in the world slightly. They were shifting from being nothing but a two bit group of street punks into a legitimate mob organization, having been behind the great majority of the recent mysterious thefts. The trio boarded the train.

"So the boss says we're going to score big on this heist," said one of the members of the Purple Dragons.

"Hey, remember now, he doesn't want to be called boss anymore, he wants us to call him Master," replied a second member of the Purple Dragons as he started up the train as it began to rattle down the tracks, where further members of the Purple Dragons.

"I'll call him anything he wants, as luck as he makes us rich," added the third Purple Dragon in a calm voice, and with that sentiment, the other two Dragons nodded in agreement.

"Look that train is leaving the station," remarked the Black Phantom, as she arrived at the station with Harry and Harry paused, before he crouched down, removing his Firebolt from his bag and stepped over it, looking from left to right to make sure the coast is clear.

"You stay here, keep a look out, signal me if anyone else shows up, but don't confront them yourself until I arrive here," said Harry firmly as he shot up like a cork, on his Firebolt, in an attempt to get closer to the train. The train did not appear to be all that fast which gave Harry all the more reason to believe that the cargo aboard the train was extremely valuable. There was little doubt in Harry's mind that whomever was moving the cargo obviously did not want to attract any attention whatsoever.

A whirling of a helicopter nearby caused Harry to swerve behind a tree to get out of the way, as if to not be seen, at least until he had a better idea what they were up to. A large hook descended from the helicopter, fastening right one of the train cars before it was steadied. Harry leaned forward and he did a double take as he spotted exactly who was the pilot of the helicopter. Much to his shock, it was the once and apparently now, current leader of the Purple Dragons, the former right hand of Oroku Saki, the man mountain known as Hun, who had survived the attack of Foot Headquarters three weeks ago. While the American Wizarding Government had managed to recover the weakened but still alive form of Leatherhead from the rubble in Saki Manor, Hun was missing in action and it was the hope of Harry that he had seen the last of one of his oldest, fiercest rivals. Sadly, he was mistaken and it was obvious now who was behind the latest rash of criminal activity in New York.

"The cargo is secure, Master Hun," informed one of the Purple Dragons who were stationed on the train from over the radio.

"Excellent, depart before you are seen and meet me back at headquarters," replied Hun as he looked down, surveying the area, before he pulled up the cargo, leaving it dangle in the sky. "A perfect night for a heist, not a cloud in the sky, not to mention any cops or meddlesome wizards."

"Do you think Potter is on to us, Master Hun?" inquired one of the Purple Dragons on the copter.

"Let the little freak try, along with the Turtles if they dare," said Hun in a menacing tone as the helicopter lowered the cargo onto a waiting flat bed truck, that promptly drove off to Purple Dragons headquarters to unload. "We'll be ready for them, but right now, I have bigger aspirations in mind. With the Shredder gone, it is my duty to raise the operations of the Purple Dragons to a whole new level in his absence and that's what I will do, no one will stop us."

In Washington DC, Agent Bishop was in the White House, having been summoned for a direct meeting with his boss, who just happened to be no less than the President of the United States himself. Bishop walked up to the President's desk, as the Chief Executive Officer of the United States gazed at him from over his desk, eyes narrowed and Bishop just knew after the Oroku Saki fiasco, it was just a matter of time before he came under fire from the bureaucrats in Washington.

"Bishop, I've been running ragged for the past few weeks, in an attempt to put out the fire you started when you and your men, without my authorization, launched an air assault on Oroku Saki's mansion!" yelled the President angrily. "Your reckless actions put the lives of two Representatives and a Senator in grave jeopardy, do you realize how many favors I've had to call in to prevent a crisis of epic magnitude?"

"Mr. President you must understand, there were circumstances, Oroku Saki is in fact an…" stated Bishop but the President wasn't going to allow Bishop to explain his action.

"For quite some time, I've been extremely leery about your department, you were completely and utterly useless during the Triceraton Invasion two years ago," continued the President. "You've done nothing to justify me not eliminating you entirely and this latest incident does nothing to help your cause. Within the next few weeks, your funding will be cut and the Earth Protection Force may cease to exist as a government sanctioned department. Your actions no longer justify the expense to the tax payers."

"The Earth is in danger, my work must continue, Mr. President," responded Bishop.

"Your work has caused nothing but scandal and outrage, putting more people in danger than it has helped," countered the President. "Now, I suggest you leave my office now as my mind has been made up on this issue."

Bishop left the President's office in a towering mood, escorted by a pair of secret service agents to his limo. The President didn't understand, he lacked the imagination to do what was necessary, to protect the Earth from invasion. The Earth Protection Force could not be shut down, there was no way, if it was, they might as well have rolled out the red carpet and welcomed the extra terrestrials into the world. Bishop entered this limo, these angry thoughts in his mind, as he was greeted by a rather frantic look etched on the face of one of subordinates.

"Sir, a situation has occurred," muttered the subordinate. "If this gets out, it'll be bad news."

"That's the last thing I need after what the President said," said Bishop in a tired voice. "What is it?"

"One of our trains in New York were hijacked, and found intact, with the exception of the car containing T9581," explained the subordinate.

"This is a piece of bad news," remarked Bishop coolly. "We must do all we can to recover and destroy the cargo, because if word gets out about this experiment, the Earth Protection Force will have no future."

The subordinate nodded, as he drove Bishop off to a government base so they could better search for T9581.

Hailey, still under the guise of the Black Phantom, followed Harry carefully up the side of the building. She wished she had brought her broomstick, this would be much easier but then again, it would be a tip off for her identity, as she was one of the only three non-professional player individuals on Earth to own a Firebolt. She copied Harry's motion in peering through a half opened window, into the Purple Dragons headquarters. It was dimly lit, but it was not falling apart like one would think, the effects of selling hijacked weapons on the black obviously was apparent, as Harry used an Extendable Ear to get a better listen at what Hun was saying.

"My fellow Purple Dragons, I must congratulate you on another successful operation," said Hun with a smug expression on his face. "The Shredder may be gone, but many of his tactics that he used to make the Foot the most feared criminal organization in the city will live on through me as I take the Purple Dragons to newer heights yet. Before long, we will be the top dogs in this city, no one can touch us. Now there is only one thing to do and see exactly what our latest government shipment has in it."

On his signal, two Purple Dragons rolled out a large metallic crate into view, with "T9581" stamped on it, right in front of Hun as a third Purple Dragon approached it, with a crowbar in hand before he placed it inside, as the other two Purple Dragons held the crate steady. The crate slowly pried open, as Hun, along with the other Purple Dragons watched with glee.

"It's always interesting opening up hijacked government shipments," continued Hun. "It's like Christmas morning, you never know what you're going to get inside."

At those words, the crate was pried open and white smoke billowed out. The Purple Dragons all backed off, before a demented looking grey monster with five eyes and claws for hands, rose out to the crate, growling madly, spit flying everywhere, before it knocked one of the goons to the ground. Two Purple Dragons attempted to use laser blasters to slow the beast down but this only served to anger the monster, as it picked the crate up the ground, before it flung it right at the Purple Dragons causing them to scatter. Many of them backed up, most wisely, as the monster began to smash up the warehouse, as it advanced on the Purple Dragons.

"What is that thing?" hissed the Black Phantom from high above, as she looked down at the beast with wide eyes.

"If I knew, I'd tell you," replied Harry shortly, as he also watched, mentally formulating an attack plan, just in case that beast decided to head to the city. "Don't go down yet, not until I have a better idea of what we're up against."

The beast advanced on Hun, an angry look in its eyes, as it continued to foam at the mouth, as it stared down the large man mountain. Hun took a step back but then did a somersault roll, before he hoisted up a large laser cannon. Expertly, Hun pointed the cannon right at the monster. One large blast of solid green energy impacted the monster right in the chest. Another large green energy blast impacted the monster in the stomach. Several more blasts and the monster was completely ripped in half. Hun stood over the monster, holding his weapon with a bit of a sneer.

"Sweet dreams, you gruesome bastard," declared Hun as he dropped the weapon, with a grey ooze draining from the beast, as it laid on the ground in pain as the gang members walked over, looking a bit more secure now that the uncontrollable beast had been put down.

The celebration was not long, as a large stack of crates were knocked over, taking several members of the gang out of commission. Hun looked up, in time to get both feet of Harry Potter directly into his face. The large leader of the Purple Dragons crashed to the ground, as the Black Phantom came in front of two Purple Dragons who charged her, but she picked up one of the smashed crates, before throwing it at them. With a wandless charm, she blew up the remainder of the crate in their faces, sending splinters into the face, before she propelled herself high into the air and knocked them down with a split kick.

Hun pulled himself up and charged Harry but Harry dodged Hun's attack. Hun spun around on the rebound and caught Harry right in the stomach with a kick, that knocked all the wind out of the Boy-Who-Lived. He hoisted up Harry by the shoulder and slammed him right into a stack of boxes.

"Potter, you'll pay for interfering in the business of the Purple Dragons," growled Hun as he hoisted up a crowbar, but Harry managed to use his blade to block Hun's weapon, before pushing him back. Hun smashed up a crate as he swung the crowbar at Harry. Harry slid around but was caught right in the back with a stun laser from one of the Purple Dragons. As he dropped to the ground, a bit worse for wear, Hun raised the crowbar right over the head of Harry as the Black Phantom dodged the attacks from the trigger happy Purple Dragon, before she flung an exploding shuriken right at the weapon. The piece of metal stuck in the weapon, before it blew the gunman to bits.

Hun suddenly lurched backwards, as his crowbar became one hundred times heavier than it was before. The weapon dropped to the ground and as Hun bent down, in an attempt to pick it up, Harry pulled himself up, before he rushed over, and knocked Hun backwards. Hun quickly pulled himself to his feet but Harry used his agility due to his smaller size to avoid Hun's attack, before he circled around and caught Hun with both knees in the larger man's back.

Behind the crates, isolated from the scene, the ripped in half beast looked up with wide eyes, as a scene began to take shape. A naval officer on his wedding day, played through the monster's mind, as green tentacles erupted from both the bottom and tough halves of his body, as he was pulled back together. The scene quickly left his mind and the dazed feeling left, with the rage returning, as it pulled itself to a standing position, before it thundered right after the nearest living thing to fight.

Hailey managed to drop the last remaining Purple Dragon, as many of the others had decided to retreat once the beast broke from the crate. She watched as Harry and Hun continued their fight, and Hun's frustration rose every single time Harry avoided his attack but unexpectedly, the beast crashed through a stack of crates, before it gave an angry growl.

Harry spun around, this was the last thing he wanted, to deal with the monster as it sprung right at him. Just barely, Harry managed to avoid the attack before he conjured and blasted a net right at the beast. For a second, it was wrapped up, but much to Harry's horror, the beast ripped right through the net with his teeth and advanced right on the Boy-Who-Lived.

"Purple Dragons, fall back!" bellowed Hun and quickly, some with more difficulty then others, the Purple Dragons rose to their feet, before they got to the exit, as the beast advanced on Harry. As Harry was occupied with the beast, Hailey decided she would do the only thing that seemed logical. Quickly, she levitated a large crate high in the air, until it was above the monster's head. With a quick jerk, the crate dropped right onto the head of the monster.

The monster just turned around and went right after the Black Phantom. Quickly, Harry sprung up and climbed onto the beast's back, wrapping his arms around its neck, attempting to snap it, but the monster flung him right to the ground. Harry was down and the monster raised his clawed arm. An attempt to block it with his weapon proved to be fruitless, as the monster snapped it in half viciously with his claw. With a growl, the monster raised the claw right above Harry's throat but it paused.

A bell ringing in the distance had caused the monster's eyes to go wide, as it triggered more memories. At the wedding, the naval officer walked up to his fiancée, the young couple exchanging smiles, as the naval officer's best man, one Agent John Bishop, watched from the shadows with an approving nod.

The monster slowly backed off from Harry, before it turned, and growled angrily. Harry pulled himself up, as the monster walked right off, towards the approaching bell, smashing a wall to bits as it exited the factory.

"You stay here, I need to stop that thing, before it goes out into the city and hurts innocent people," ordered Harry sternly, as he picked up the same energy cannon that he watched Hun use earlier, in an attempt to put the beast down for good.

Hailey nodded as she watched Harry leave. A year or two ago, she might have went out with him, but after the incident where Bellatrix magically beat her within an inch of her life, she was more aware of her limitations. Purple Dragons were one thing, but that thing was something different all entirely, something that she wasn't confident she could take on. She just hoped Harry could, as she watched her brother walk off.

Harry quickly managed to catch up with the beast as it smashed up everything in its way, as the bell echoed through its ears even more. Crouching down, Harry aimed the energy weapon at the beast, before he cranked it to full power. A large jet of green energy impacted the beast but it did not even slow him down. The beast turned around and went right after Harry. Quickly, Harry pulled the trigger to give another blast. The energy weapon glowed for a few seconds, but quickly fizzled out as Harry was all too aware that it was out of juice. The monster went for Harry but Harry swung the non-functional weapon. A vicious smash directly to the chest, and the beast staggered back, before it swiped its claws right at Harry. Harry dodged the attack by springing into the air to the side which confused the monster, drawing out his wand.

"REDUCTO!" yelled Harry, using summoning all the power he could by using both the voiced incantation and his wand. The monster gave a loud bellow as a hole was blown right in its chest, but small green tentacles burst from the sides of the hole, before it sealed the chest back up. "SPICULUM!"

A dozen arrows blasted right at the monster but the monster blocked them all, snapping them with his claws, as the battle continued, as they were dangerously close to some propane tanks. Harry planned his maneuvers wisely, knowing one wrong move could indeed blow up half of the city.

Above the skies of New York City, Bishop leaned over the shoulder of one of his subordinates who was at tracking equipment in the helicopter, with Baxter Stockman in the shadows.

"You have exactly sixty seconds to locate T9581, or you will be volunteered for genetic experimentation," ordered Bishop dangerously.

"Uh, no need sir, our scanners have picked him up and we'll getting a visual right now," replied the subordinate in a shaky voice as he punched a button, which showed T9581 below.

"Amazing, you've clearly gone above and beyond all expectations in your work sir," praised Stockman as he looked at the creature but Bishop spotted another figure down, doing battle with T9581.

"Harry Potter, that's rather interesting, I had assumed that he had perished in the explosion of Oroku Saki's starship," remarked Bishop coolly, before he turned to the subordinate by the scanner. "Proceed with containment and elimination, leave no trace."

"Yes, Agent Bishop," replied the subordinate as he cranked a dial on the control console.

On the helicopter above, a large laser cannon pointed down and Harry spotted it, before he quickly slid out of sight. The beast did not have the presence of mind to avoid it as it blasted downwards. A jet of yellow energy impacted the beast on the skull, staggering it, before a grapping hook shot down from the copter. The beast gave a pained growl as it hooked right into its right arm. Another grappling hook shot down, impacting right into his right arm. A third grappling hook shot down and plunged right into the chest of the monster.

"Pull it up!" ordered Bishop but the beast had dug its heals into the ground, in resistance and was actually beginning to pull the helicopter from the sky.

"Sir, it's resisting…" remarked the subordinate in a feeble voice.

"Fire more, we can't let this get out, the entire future of the Earth Protection Force hangs in the balance," said Bishop and the subordinate prepared to fire more grapples but the beast had angrily ripped the grappling hook from his chest, before he yanked the grapple cable from the helicopter, which spiraled out of control.

The beast looked up and saw Bishop, before it growled it recognition, and swung the cable right at it. Harry stepped forward, in an attempt to stop the monster from smashing up the propane tanks but it was too late, so he placed his most powerful shield charm up

"PULL UP!" yelled Bishop as the monster smashed the propane tank with the cable and a large explosion went up, catching the beast right in the chest full force. The monster flew right off the docks nearby and splashed right into the water. Ooze bubbled from the water as it laid silent.

Bishop turned to the subordinate.

"Do a complete scan of the body of water around us, check for any life," ordered Bishop.

"Sir, its likely that T9581 perished…" stated the man but Bishop gave him an icy stare that left no room for argument, as a scan of the water commenced.

When the explosions had stopped, Harry removed his shield charm. It appeared, after a quick magical scan, that the monster was gone, destroyed in the explosion. As he mounted his broomstick, and flew into the darkness, he wondered exactly what that was all about.

In a house not far from the docks, a woman with brown hair watched out the window with wide eyes, before she turned around and walked past, before stopping to look at a framed photo on the mantle piece of her wedding day. It had been many years since Agent Bishop had told her that her husband had perished at sea but she still missed him.

Right next to the picture, laid dog tags, all that remained of her husband. On the tags read, _Naval Officer J. Finn, T9581. _


	2. Chapter 2: Downfall

**Chapter Two: Downfall**

September First had arrived, as Harry walked off the Hogwarts Express, for his seventh year of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, a bit subdued because of the events of the previous year. Ginny, Hailey, Hermione followed him off the train, as Neville and Luna also joined them some time later, most likely because their were Aurors on the train who had hinted that it might be a good idea to travel in larger groups just in case something happened. Harry felt the urge to smack some students, who scoffed that they didn't need the added precautions because of the lack of attacks. Harry speculated it was the calm before the storm.

"Look at how many people didn't show up," remarked Luna in a hushed voice as they looked around, indeed the Great Hall was only half full.

"After last year, most people wouldn't want to send their children here," replied Hermione somberly. "I can't say that I don't blame them but still, everyone spread out like this, it does leave us vulnerable."

"Just how long do we have before he decides to run us all over," added Neville in a hushed voice.

"Don't know, the fact he's done nothing since the massacre at Hogwarts is rather scary isn't it?" asked Hailey.

"Yeah, it is, there's no way to stop him if we don't know exactly what he's up to," replied Neville with a nod. "It will be okay though, in the end, right Harry?"

"I hope it will," said Harry as he jerked out of his thoughts, wondering how many more would die before he could stop Voldemort. Every possible lead for the Horcruxes over the summer had turned up to be nothing but a dead end.

"It will," replied Ginny in a reassuring voice. "He can be stopped… "

They reached the Great Hall and waved each other good bye, as they parted ways to their separate house tables. Harry and Ginny sat down, a bit removed from the rest of the Slytherins, as they looked down the table.

"I shouldn't have come to school this year," replied Harry. "I should be out there, looking for the Horcruxes, an education doesn't matter…"

"No Harry, if you're not here, what hope does the rest of Hogwarts have?" asked Ginny and Harry did not have an answer. "Sure, some of us might be able to hold off an attack, but as the last attack proved, without your leadership skills, we're running around in circles."

"I won't be here forever Ginny," replied Harry grimly and Ginny shuddered, as she could not bear to live without Harry, he had brought so much happiness into her life, even after a rather dark time, after all that happened, with Bill currently clinging onto life, with Percy estranged from their family, with her mother in a state of depression because of the two other two things.

"I know, but in the mean time, you should stick around for at least another hundred years or so," replied Ginny with a weak smile. "Still, even though Voldemort hasn't done anything, you've got to admit there are some strange things going on."

"You mean like the Dementors just disappearing from Azkaban," said Harry with a frown. "Considering the fact that we know exactly what those things are, I find it a bit more disturbing that Voldemort may have them under his control, even if they are on a weakened form…"

"Do you think Voldemort has the Eye of Darkness?" asked Ginny and Harry just responded with a shrug, turning away as Professor Flitwick, the new deputy Headmaster, brought out the sorting hat, as the new Headmistress, Professor McGonagall sat down at the table, looking like she had not slept in weeks, and the looks on the faces of many of the teachers also indicated that. Lily had mentioned that they were trying to upgrade the Hogwarts defenses a bit for another attack but that was a long and tedious process, that they did not know how long it would take.

The Sorting Hat open the mouth on the brim and instead of springing into a song, it began to speak somberly.

"Normally I sing of the school, but now I bring a message of woe," said the hat. "The events that have been prophesized some time ago are looming ever closer. The fate of the world hangs in the balance and today, the wheels of fate will begin to grind, setting into motion the events that may lead to the end of the world as we know it. A select few will have the power to stop this menace but will it be enough to save humanity? As for the sorting, it matters little, but I reluctantly offer myself one more time, perhaps one last time, to place the students where I feel they belong."

Many of the students looked absolutely confused, as the sorting began but Harry and Ginny were among the few who had pieced together what the hat had said.

"The hat could be mistaken," offered Ginny feebly.

"I hope it is," agreed Harry. "But I'm going to be ready for anything today, even if I don't quite believe in fate as much as many do."

However, one thing Harry did believe in was the danger that Voldemort posed to everyone in the Wizarding World and indeed his life. Sooner or later, he would have to come face to face with Voldemort, whether or not the Horcruxes had been all located. Until the moment each and every Horcrux had been located, so Harry could unify the soul of Voldemort, he was still both extremely dangerous and immortal.

Chilling winds whipped through the sky right outside of the island that contained Azkaban. Even without the Dementors, it was still a rather creepy and foreboding place, as it would take many years for the effects of these horrid creatures to completely disappear. Thicknesse had assigned rookie Aurors to guard the island, stating that it would be an excellent tool to give them experience just in case of a situation arose. There was a bit of controversy but not all that much, as most of the Auror department wanted to steer clear of Azkaban, so it was a job for the rookies to deal with.

A young Auror in his early twenties patrolled the island, giving a shudder as winds whipped in the sky. Other than that, there was little noise. Until at least until the chilling water around the island bubbled and the Auror stepped over, as something was stirring in the water. He bent down and a cold, slimy hand, erupted out of the water, grabbing the Auror. The man gave a slightly scream, before he was pulled beneath the water, and disappeared, with blood bubbling up from the depths below.

"Peters!" yelled another Auror, who had rushed forward when he heard his fellow co-worker's scream. "Are you out here, where are you, what's going on?"

A loud thunderous sound echoed throughout the island and the Auror looked up, as walking through the water was a monstrous figure. Over twenty five feet of pure mass, a giant was approaching the island. The Auror froze up as the giant stepped onto the island before it raised its tree trunk like arms and growled menacingly, raising its fist which was the size of a Muggle van.

This giant was the worst of this young man's worries as a figure calmly stood in the shadows, with nothing but slit red eyes were visible in the fog. The Auror decided to make a break for it, as fast as he could.

"Excellent strategy," remarked Voldemort calmly as he stepped out of the shadows, before he looked up at the giant he had brought with him. "Smash open the front of the prison."

The giant just responded by raising both of his fists in the air and slammed them down on the side of Azkaban. The front wall crumbled basically into dust, allowing Voldemort to casually step into the prison as a trio of Aurors looked petrified as Voldemort entered the prison.

"Step aside," ordered Voldemort in his most chilling voice and one of the Aurors foolishly attempted to stun Voldemort. Naturally Voldemort casually deflected this assault and fired a dangerous looking curse towards the Auror who screamed as his skin slowly melted, before his bones burst into flames, turning slowly into ashes.

The other Aurors slumped into the wall in fear as Voldemort rounded on them, his eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Take me to the security control rune or you'll suffer the same fate as he did," ordered Voldemort softly and one of the Aurors stepped forward, before leading Voldemort down the hallway, right into a small room that had a large stone rune with a key etched into it.

"Right there," replied the Auror in a shaky voice.

"Lord Voldemort thanks you," hissed Voldemort as he watched the Auror step forward, in an attempt to quickly sound the alarm. "AVADA KEDAVRA!"

The Auror dropped to the ground, struck full force with the green light as Voldemort looked down, before he tapped the wand to his throat, to amplify his voice ten times beyond its normal volume.

"My followers, Lord Voldemort has come for you," replied Voldemort softly. "And I offer an opportunity to all prisoners to submit themselves to me, to join our cause, in exchange for your freedom. In thirty seconds, I will shut off the security ward, causing the doors to your cells to vanish and allow you freedom, remaining open for a full sixty seconds. However, I must warn you that if you take this opportunity and attempt to betray me, the consequences will be most painful. Now, my followers and those who wish to join the cause, prepare to join me in the corridor in five, four, three, two, one."

Voldemort trace his wand over the rune and a loud hissing sound was heard, as the doors sprang open and several prisoners, both Death Eaters and otherwise, left their cells and made their way down the hallway. Only a few prisoners refused to submit themselves to Voldemort's cause and after the sixty seconds were up, Voldemort once again traced his wand over the ward, causing the cell doors to swing back shut again.

"To the outside of the prison," ordered Voldemort swiftly as nearly a hundred prisoners followed Voldemort to the outside of the prison, where Voldemort's giant henchman was waiting, holding what appeared to be a Muggle automobile in the palm of his hand.

Voldemort looked up at the giant, who bent his boulder like head down to look for his master.

"Place down the Portkey and return to the camp," ordered Voldemort calmly and the giant nodded, before he placed the portkey down, as all of the prisoners crowded around it, before they all touched it. Seconds later, all of the prisoners vanished from the island, as Voldemort disapparated without a word.

At Gringotts, a group of goblin warriors were on the outside, being attacked by a rogue group of goblins, who had been joined by a group of Death Eaters. Ragnok walked over, dodging a sickly yellow blast of light, before he threw a spear at one of the attacking Death Eaters, impaling the wizard.

"Ragnok, the rogues have taken control of the wards of the bank, it won't be long now before…" stated one of the goblins feebly before he got ripped in half, with blood to splatter everywhere.

"We're fight to the last goblin, we won't let these traitors allow him to take control of the bank!" yelled Ragnok. "We're stronger, we're goblins, we don't need the help of…"

In mid speech, Ragnok was silenced when a jet of green light impacted him right in the chest. Ragnok dropped to the ground, one of the most prominent goblins at Gringotts was dead. The goblins looked on in shock, as they attempted to fight, but their morale was absolutely shattered and the Death Eaters fought inside, breaking up their attempts to retake control of the wards.

"Filthy creatures, you should have not fought the will of the Dark Lord," grunted MacNair as the Death Eaters and the group of goblins sympathetic to Voldemort had walked forward, as the remaining defending goblins had decided to attempt to make a break for it, to perhaps fight another day. "You should have joined the others; this bank is under our hands now."

"Let them leave, they might have put up a fight it's over. We have the bank," suggested one of the Voldemort supporters, turning to the Death Eaters, most of them who nodded in agreement, knowing that a few goblins weren't going to matter much. The number of goblins who had decided to join the Dark Lord, under promises of more rights and the right to hold a wand, were much larger, as the Ministry had infringed on their rights one time too many. They had nothing to lose by trying out Voldemort and perhaps something to gain.

At the Ministry of Magic, Thicknesse stood at the entrance, as a group of Death Eaters approached, lead by Dolohov and Yaxley. Several Aurors made their way into the foyer, wands drawn but Thicknesse just turned to his Aurors with a calm expression on his face.

"It's over, You-Know-Who has taken over, it's foolish to fight," replied Thicknesse in a calm voice as the group of Aurors looked astonished, but several of them stepped back, conceding their superiors orders but others held their wands facing off against the Death Eaters. "Listen, none of you make this any harder than it is, we must work together with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, to ensure that the deaths are fewer and further between."

"How long have you been in his back pocket, Thicknesse?" asked the Auror called Dawlish but Dolohov stepped in front of the senior Auror, with a menacing glare on his face.

"You'd be served to listen to your superior, it's over," grunted Dolohov, as the Death Eaters pulled out the grisly remains of what was once Amelia Bones causing several Aurors to gasp. "Unless you wish to suffer the same fate that Madam Bones did, when she decided to go over Thicknesse's head to give the unworthy Black a trial. "

"Indeed, it's over now, the world is in the hands of the Dark Lord, Azkaban has fallen, Gringotts is ours, as is the entire Ministry of Magic," added Yaxley. "Any heroes that wish to step up will suffer a similar fate and you now have a new leader, the Dark Lord will rule over all of Wizarding Britain. There will be no Minister, no Wizengamot, just the power of the Dark Lord and his first official act is an order to all the Aurors of the Ministry of Magic to help lay siege to Hogwarts, in our final step to take control. Only then will the purity of Wizarding Britain be established"

"It is done; the Ministry of Magic will place its support behind the Dark Lord in his plans for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," confirmed Thicknesse. "Anyone who disagrees will be considered to be committing an act of treason."

The Aurors had no choice but to agree with these orders, as Thicknesse was now the most powerful figure in the Ministry of Magic with the slaying of Madam Bones and he had the full support of one of the most powerful wizards, if not the most powerful, in all of Britain. The Ministry and all of Wizarding Britain was at the mercy of the most feared dark lord in the last century.

At Hogwarts, Harry and Ginny were about to make their way down to the chambers underneath the Slytherin library for the night but a frantic looking Tonks rushing towards them stopped them in their tracks.

"Harry, thankfully I just managed to catch you but all the Aurors inside Hogwarts have been contacted, we're to surrender Hogwarts to the control of Voldemort within the next ten minutes or suffer the consequences," said Tonks quickly. "This proclamation came straight from Thicknesse himself and…"

"The Ministry's fallen to Voldemort," interrupted Harry as he turned to Ginny, who looked about as horrified as he felt.

"Not exactly," corrected Tonks and Harry's eyebrow raised. "The Death Eaters walked into the Ministry and Thicknesse just handed over control of the Ministry without a fight. Madam Bones was murdered as well, she was just shown as an example to what happened to those who defied him."

"She would have been the only one who might have been powerful enough to stir up a rebellion," concluded Harry grimly. "The Aurors here can do what they feel is necessary, but we're not letting Hogwarts fall into the hands of Voldemort."

"The Aurors will do everything they can to help keep it out of his hands, we had a quick meeting and we decided to go against Thicknesse's orders, even if it costs us all of our jobs," said Tonks firmly.

Harry opened his mouth to give his thanks but at that moment, Lily also quickly walked down the corridor, looking even more frantic than Tonks did, and that was saying something.

"Bad news Harry and I know the word about the Ministry has gotten in, but there's two other places that have fallen, Alexandra just contacted me," replied Lily. "Over one hundred inmates have been broken out of Azkaban, giant involvement is suspected but that's only the tip of the iceberg. A large group of rogue goblins have sold out Gringotts to the Death Eaters, some tried to fight but were massacred, and now Death Eaters have Diagon Alley under lockdown, with Gringotts as their main base of operations."

"Fred, George," muttered Ginny, as she worried about the safety of her twin brothers, who were not about to just sit back and let Death Eaters take over, if they could do anything to help. She already worried about her father at the Ministry, with Voldemort taking over.

Harry looked over at Ginny, wanting to say everything was going to be okay, but he just couldn't bring himself to say it, because for once, Harry lacked the confidence to be self assured. After the attack on Hogwarts last year, Harry's sense of security was shattered slightly and the fact he just barely saved his family from being brutally slaughtered at the hands of the Shredder did not help matters any way whatsoever.

"Time's running short, Ginny, warn the others, get as many sixth and seventh years as are willing to come to help the Aurors stall Voldemort," replied Harry. "Mum, could you please take the portable transmat to the Room of Requirement, so it's ready in case we need to evacuate?"

"Of course Harry," agreed Lily with a nod as she walked off to do what Harry had requested as Harry looked off into the distance, as Tonks also left to join the Aurors.

"What are you going to do Harry?" asked Ginny.

"If he comes here, someone's going to have to fight him," replied Harry calmly and Ginny opened her mouth to protest. "I've held him off before, I can beat him again, he might be magically stronger than me in some aspects, but in other aspects, he can't touch me. I'll be fine Ginny, really."

"Just be careful and if you get hurt, don't fight to the point where you can't escape," said Ginny, as she threw her arms around Harry's neck and pressed her lips against Harry's, who returned the kiss heartily, almost forgetting the fact that Voldemort was about to come to the school for a minute and Ginny broke. "Sorry Harry, with everything that goes on, I have you, I'd just fall apart…"

"I understand," answered Harry. "Ginny, I have full confidence in your abilities, but at the same time, I can't lose you, I feel the same thing, it doesn't need to be said, but save yourself, I don't want anyone else to die. Especially you, I love you and I would have given up a long time ago if you hadn't been at my side, giving me whatever encouragement I needed."

"I know, but I love you, but they'll be plenty of time for us later, right now we've got a school to keep out of Voldemort's hands," said Ginny in a confident voice giving Harry one more final quick kiss as she walked off as quickly as she could, to gather up some help, having a pretty good idea who she could depend on, who was good enough to be of help during a fight.

Harry looked at the windows, waiting for the approaching army that no doubt would come to Hogwarts. Voldemort would have to lead this one personally and would no doubt try to break down the defenses, rather than sneak in like the attack last year. It would be one final show of great power, the power that only Voldemort could show.

Voldemort sat in Salazar Tower with a smug look on his face as the tower began to levitate a few feet above the ground, with a large chunk of power crystal place on the front of the tower. Approaching footsteps indicated the arrival of Bellatrix Lestrange.

"My Lord, the ground army is awaiting your orders, the group downstairs is ready to propel our fortress right through the Hogwarts wards," remarked Bellatrix, as she held up her prosthetic replacement arm.

"Begin with the siege," ordered Voldemort softly, and Bellatrix nodded, before she sent a flare down the stairs, indicating that the Dark Lord had given the signal.

Ginny walked down with a group of Aurors and students, including Hailey, Hermione, Neville, Luna, and Ron, who looked around wildly.

"We heard on the wireless in the Gryffindor common room, You-Know-Who's taken over everything," said Ron. "Gringotts, the Ministry, Azkaban, everything, and Harry's saying that a small group of students, teachers and Aurors are going to stop him in his tracks."

"No, I doubt that Harry's planning to defeat Voldemort, he wants to rattle his forces, before we retreat," replied Hermione as she turned to Ginny. "Right, Ginny?"

"Yeah, that sounds good, let's go with that," answered Ginny.

"It almost sounds like Harry does not have much of a plan to deal with a sudden invasion," remarked Luna candidly. "He's done well so far, but this has happened all so fast, so he's making it up as he goes."

"Well to be fair Voldemort does have the Ministry on his side now, along with all of those prisoners he broke out of Azkaban and the goblins, so his army is expanded infinitely," said Hailey. "Harry might be good, but he's working with a limited amount of resources on short notice."

"Yes, even most of the Resistance group is spread out, I'm sure Harry could get them all here soon enough, but before Voldemort took over," remarked Hermione skeptically. "I don't know how feasible that would be, I'm sure…"

At that moment, large bolts of magic erupted from the lake as a large stone building soared through the sky, right at Hogwarts, nearly radiating with black magic.

"BLOODY HELL!" yelled Ron his eyes widened as the building flew right at Hogwarts, not stopping, as it appeared to slice towards every defensive ward that Hogwarts had up, only gaining more velocity as it approached the school.

"Students of Hogwarts, this is Professor McGonagall, as the Ministry of Magic has fallen to Lord Voldemort, and as a result, is assisting him to take control of the school," declared McGonagall, her voice amplified throughout the entire school. "We are doing…"

"This is Lord Voldemort," hissed Voldemort, cutting McGonagall off. "I recommend that all inside the school surrender themselves to the Dark Lord and I will forgive any past attempts to defy me. The wards are under my control and any who may be outside their Common Rooms may fight it impossible for anyone to get in, or get out through the designated exits. All exits are controlled and my forces on the ground are coming in, to round up any rebellion."

All of the teachers, including the rest of the students and the Aurors made their way as Ginny pulled out her two way mirror to quickly contact Harry.

"Harry, he's taken control of the school, now what do we do?" asked Ginny as Harry's face appeared on the mirror.

"Once the ground army enters the gates, throw as many lethal spells as possible through the windows and then thirty seconds after that, get to the transmat," said Harry and Ginny turned to the others.

"When they get through the gates, aim to kill and then go to the Room of Requirement, we have a way to get out that is not keyed into the school," said Ginny as she relayed Harry's message to all inside the school.

"What of the students?" asked Professor Sprout. "We can't just leave them here."

"We will stay as long as possible, to let the others escape," ordered McGonagall calmly, but the look of her eyes saw that she was just as worried as the others were. "Perhaps a way can be found around whatever he did to the wards. It's a long shot."

"They're coming through the gates right now," shouted one of the students from the distance and everyone rushed through the windows, to prepare to fire. Several jets of multi colored spells flew right out the window, impacting the ground force from every direction possible, as several dropped down.

"To the Room of Requirement, now!" yelled Lily as their attack had caused some dissension in the ranks, as the rest of the teachers remained back, in an attempt to further stall the forces, my enchanting suits of armor to attack anyone who had came down the hallway.

Outside Hogwarts, Harry crept out of the shadows, as he looked up at Salazar Tower, a large chunk of Y'Liatian Power Crystal glowing a nearly blinding shade of blue light. Harry knew now that if he could take out the crystal, he could take control of Hogwarts. Quickly, he pulled out his Firebolt and mounted it, before he shot up like a cork, before he pulled out his blade. If he had attempted to bust it magically, it would just absorb the magic, this had to be done the Muggle way. Quickly Harry raised the sharp end of the blade but a hole materialized in the front of Salazar Tower and quickly, it created a vacuum effect in the tower, sucking Harry inside.

Harry spiraled down to the ground, from being drawn into the tower forcibly, the impact causing him to be dizzied. Slowly but surely, Harry pulled himself to his feet, just as he came face to face with Voldemort himself, who stood in the shadows with a calculating expression on his face.

"Welcome to my fortress Harry," remarked Voldemort. "We meet again, but as you'll find out shortly, it will be for the last time. I had assumed that you would attempt to destroy my power source but you should have been the one to assume that I would have a way to stop you in your tracks."

"A rare lapse," responded Harry coolly, before a Kusari-Gama whipped out of his sleeve, in an attempt to catch Voldemort off guard with a ninjitsu attack but Voldemort calmly reached forward, catching the chain, before he yanked Harry forward and caught him right in the chest with a palm thrust, magically enhanced. Harry's chest stung like hell as Voldemort stood over him. "What the…"

"Those assassins you fought over the past year were the most skilled in their disciples and now I have all of their abilities, magically amplified ten fold!" hissed Voldemort as his right hand was now illuminated, nearly blinding Harry with the black glow, before Voldemort raised it up into the air and impacted Harry right in the face. A ringing erupted in Harry's ears as he was sent backwards and crashed into the wall. Voldemort dragged Harry towards him magically, before he gripped Harry by the arm, viciously twisting it, before Harry flipped to the ground. "How does it feel Harry, to be beaten by your own Muggle tricks?"

"You might have the abilities, but you'll never truly understand the discipline behind them," responded Harry as he quickly flung a set of six shuriken at Voldemort who caught them all before he flung them right back at Harry at the speed of light. Harry just barely managed to put a shield up to contain the explosion but he was still impacted backward, his feet dragging into the ground, leaving black marks where his heels dragged.

"Time after time, you've managed to get the jump on me by using this ninjitsu but now just another thing that I excel at Harry Potter," taunted Voldemort but Harry quickly flipped over the back of Voldemort, before he wrapped his arm around the throat of Voldemort, attempting to choke the Dark Lord out, but Voldemort arched his back, before he slid right through Harry's legs and then caught him with a magically amplified kick right to the back. Harry was launched in the air as he crashed to the ground, his back throbbing from the impact. "But, as always, the oldest tricks are still the most effective. CRUCIO!"

Harry felt as if a thousand razor sharp needles were stabbing right into his body, as Voldemort punished him, seeming to derive some sort of pleasure from wearing him down. He dropped to his knees and a twisted smirk appeared on Voldemort's face.

"On your knees right before me, where you belong Potter," remarked Voldemort as Harry removed a drawstring bag from his pocket. "Admit it Potter, I'm your superior, I'm…"

Powder was thrown up into the air, causing the area around Voldemort to be blacked out for a few seconds. When the lights come back on, a dozen duplicates of Harry Potter was surrounding Voldemort, all looking the exactly the same.

"Mere trickery Potter, I'll take care of each of your doubles one by one and then you'll be finished off," hissed Voldemort as he slashed his wand through the air, slicing two of the holograms, causing wisps of magic energy to burst into the air. Voldemort disabled all of the hologram duplicates to be destroyed one by one until Voldemort was left alone, with no one else in the room.

Just then, the feet of Harry swung up from above, managing to catch Voldemort off guard and impacted him right in the face. Voldemort staggered as Harry somersaulted over Voldemort before a large blast of fire impacted from the wand of the Boy-Who-Lived. The Dark Lord blocked it with a solid shield composed completely of ice. A determined look was etched on Voldemort's face, even with a slight black eye.

"Crucio," declared Voldemort and once again Harry felt himself in absolutely pain, but he looked up at a large support beam above Voldemort's head, if he could get it, he cold take Voldemort out. "Admit it Potter, you've given it your best, but your best was not good enough."

"My best is more than a match for you, Riddle," retorted Harry as the wooden beam was sliced from the ceiling, as it came down, impacting Voldemort's the top of Voldemort's head causing the Dark Lord's knees to buckle slightly, as more pieces of debris came down, with Harry quickly dodging out through a half opened door, into a nearby corridor as Voldemort gave an inhume shriek as the rubble came down onto his head.

Back inside the school, Ginny looked off in the distance.

"Ginny?" said Hailey and Ginny turned around, to see Hailey standing right there. "We're the last two left other than the teachers, Mum says that we need to leave now, the other teachers are just barely holding off the force, they've broken through into the Great Hall."

"I can't just leave Harry here on his own," replied Ginny in a hushed voice.

"Harry has the Portus-Amulet remember, he can get out of here easily if he gets in trouble," responded Hailey. "Besides, Harry wouldn't want us to put ourselves in danger."

"I know but I don't have to like it," responded Ginny as they walked over to the transmat, as Lily joined them.

"I don't like it much either, Ginny," inputted Lily with a worried look on her face. "Still, we've got to have faith that Harry will that he'll get out alive, but right now, we need to get on the transmat and send it with us to New York, so the Ministry can't trace us back to where we live."

"It's hopeless for the others now?" asked Hailey.

"Yes, the Professors of this school did everything they could, but time has ran out," replied Lily as she activated the control and the transmat, along with the three witches had vanished, leaving Hogwarts, just as Voldemort's forces had broke threw the last line of defense.

Voldemort blasted through the wall and stood face to face with Harry but Harry dodged an extremely deadly looking spell. The spell burned a hole right through the wall in record time and cords shot out of Harry's wand, wrapping around Voldemort's arms and legs but Voldemort twisted out, before be came behind Harry and conjured a glowing yellow sword. Harry faced off against Voldemort, holding his double edged weapon and rushed Voldemort, but the sword sliced right through the weapon, turning it into a smoldering pile of melted metal. Harry dropped to the ground, as Voldemort's magically enhanced weapon slashed right through his clothing and viciously wounded his shoulder. Harry laid on the ground, in pain, as his shoulder was cut and he removed his Portus-Amulet, now was the time for a strategic retreat.

Before Harry could activate his escape route, Voldemort reached forward and removed the amulet from Harry's neck, before he magically levitated Harry up into the air. Drawing his fist back, Harry was impacted hard, and flew all the way down the corridor, as Voldemort held Harry's Portus-Amulet in his hand. Voldemort approached Harry, as Harry laid on the ground, bruised and battered, but definitely, he would not stop fighting, he would defeat Voldemort. He had to!

"AVADA KEDAVRA!" screamed Harry desperately even though without the Horcruxes it would not be that effective. Voldemort looked amused as the Killing Curse struck him right in the chest. It lifted Voldemort off the ground and caused him to slam down on the ground. Harry stepped forward, before he collapsed to his back from the effort it took him to fire off once Killing Curse, it caused a heavy amount of magical exhaustion, as Voldemort's eyes flickered open as the Dark Lord climbed to his feet.

"Every muscle in my body aches Potter, I commend you for that," replied Voldemort as he looked down at Harry, who could not even summon the strength to lift his head. "First attempt of a Killing Curse, I see Potter? Not bad, but you obviously lack the skills and threw way too much of your power into it. Perhaps I should give you a demonstration on what the Killing Curse can truly do?"

Harry just managed to pull himself completely to a sitting position, unable to defend himself and Voldemort just stood there, contemplating something in his demented mind, before he stepped forward and swiftly removed Harry's wand from his hand.

"Yet, the Killing Curse would put you down easily, it's not the glorious, slow defeat that I had hoped for," said Voldemort as he raised his wand and Harry found himself wrapped tightly in magical ropes and levitated Harry's bound form into the air. "I must admit, I do enjoy a challenge and I shall give you one in response, rather than killing you outright, because I could easily finish you off Potter."

Moments later, outside of Hogwarts, near the lake, a large crypt was carried out by some low level Death Eaters. The Inner Circle Death Eaters approached, with a bit of a new look, wearing executioner's masks and loosened nooses around their necks, with white robes that looked to be splattered in blood and looked excited as Voldemort placed Harry in the crypt, with Harry's own Portus-Amulet placed around the neck of Voldemort.

"Potter, this is it, once the crypt is sealed shut, you have sixty seconds to find a way out, as you'll only have enough air for that, but there are ten separate anti-Apparation fields placed on the crypt so while you might have pulled off a miracle with two during our last meeting, I doubt ten would be even something that I could break through," admitted Voldemort coldly as he raised Potter's wand, and looked to place it in the crypt, but he withdrew his hand and snapped Harry Potter's wand in half right before his very eyes, as the Inner Circle members laughed and that was the last thing Harry saw before the crypt was sealed shut.

Calmly, Voldemort turned to all of the Death Eaters and amplified his voice so those who were contained in Hogwarts by the Ministry could here him.

"Here lies Harry Potter, a meddlesome brat who in the end fell to Lord Voldemort," said Voldemort softly as he turned to a group of Death Eaters. "Lower it into the water."

The group levitated the crypt into the air and shifted it over the lake, before they let it drop. The crypt containing Harry Potter slowly sank into the lake, to the icy depths below.


	3. Chapter 3: Wounds of Defeat

**Chapter Three: Wounds of Defeat**

A feeling of triumph spread throughout the being of Lord Voldemort, as he gazed into the depths of the Hogwarts lake, the final resting place of the Boy-Who-Lived. As the seconds ticked by, he spotted his Death Eaters lean forward, watching on the off chance that Potter might pull some frustratingly amazing escape from certain doom as he had in the past. As a bit more time passed, the lake remained still, with no signs that Harry Potter was coming up, as some of the more vicious Death Eaters looked excited, as Potter had died a slow and painful death by drowning, rather than the quick execution and merciful the Killing Curse offered.

"My friends let it be known that this is the final resting place of Harry Potter, let his crypt at the bottom of the lake serve as a reminder of those who may foolishly wish to go up against Lord Voldemort," concluded Voldemort softly. "The Boy-Who-Lived lives no longer and the last one who may have the power to oppose us has now been eradicated from existence. Wizarding Britain and in time, the entire magical world will be under the power of those worthy to rule it."

Cheers went up from the Death Eaters, as Voldemort paused, awaiting the noise to die down before he continued to address them.

"Report inside the castle to assist the Ministry with any situations that may occur, I intend to broadcast word to the entire Wizarding World of the defeat of their fabled hero," ordered Voldemort and the army of Death Eaters made their way outside, filing into Hogwarts, one by one, all a buzz after the glorious victories their master had achieved today.

With his Death Eaters inside, Voldemort stepped towards the lake, with the pieces of Potter's wand in his hand and the Portus-Amulet snapped around his neck, both as a token of his glorious victory.

"Potter, it's a shame you had to defy me, you had potential but in death, you will serve as the greatest example of the fact that no one could dare touch Lord Voldemort, no matter how talented they may be," said Voldemort. "Farewell old enemy, we shall not meet again but I wish you luck on the other side."

Without another word, Voldemort walked off to give his address, a victory speech of sorts over the Wizarding Wireless. He may have been set back sixteen years, but in the end Lord Voldemort triumphed over all who stood in his way.

Back in New York, at the Potter Residence it was a bit of a chaotic environment. Putting approximately one hundred individuals inside an average size house was not exactly the best idea and several individuals seemed shaken up, for good reason. Many of them had family and friends who were now at the mercy of Lord Voldemort, there was simply no time to evacuate an entire country of witches and wizards, and that was not even counting the Muggles that were left behind. Voldemort's coup on the Ministry of Magic had been so swift and well played.

Ginny sat in the back, removed slightly from everything, the two way mirror in her hand, debating over and over in her mind whether or not to contact Harry. While there was no way to contact her family to see if they were okay, Ginny could in fact contact Harry. The mirror was in her hand, but something was holding Ginny back. She could not bring herself to do so, to confirm the feeling of dread that she had. Almost selflessly, she had counted on Harry to reassure her that everything would work out, mostly because Ginny's own attempts to reassure herself had been in vain.

"Harry hasn't gotten back yet?" asked Hermione as she walked into the room and Ginny shook her head. "Harry's been in these situations before, he's always gotten out at the last minute."

"I guess so Hermione," replied Ginny slowly. "Besides, he does have the Portus-Amulet, the one thing that might be able to get around anything that Voldemort does to him and he did promise me that he would get out before it was too late. Harry's never let me down before but…"

"Harry's definition of getting in way over his head and everyone else's are two different things," continued Hermione and Ginny nodded. "I don't really know what Harry can do, I mean, without all of the Horcruxes, there is no way he could beat Voldemort. I suppose he could do something to deal one final blow that rattles Voldemort before he gets away."

"Yes, that would be it but he should have really gotten back by now," said Ginny in a worried voice, as she looked at the mirror.

"I think you should attempt to contact him Ginny," replied Hermione seriously and Ginny sighed deeply, before she lifted up the mirror.

"Harry, Harry, are you okay?" asked Ginny but the mirror remained black. "Harry, please answer me, please be okay, are you there Harry? HARRY THIS IS GINNY, PLEASE ANSWER IF YOU CAN HEAR ME!"

Nothing but pitch black for a minute but Ginny's heart leapt as the mirror slowly came to life. She thought for a second she would see Harry's face to reassure her but on the mirror appeared nothing but water, Ginny looked on with wide eyes, the most horrid possibilities floating in her head.

"He's still alive," muttered Ginny as she rushed off to find Lily, with Hermione following behind, a bit confused at her friend's mutterings. "Barely, but he would not have been able to activate the mirror if he was… but he's in trouble and trapped, we need to get him out of wherever he's trapped."

Lily turned to Alexandra, who had arrived from the American Wizarding Government Headquarters

"We're as far away removed from this as possible and there's even an uproar among the people here," remarked Alexandra. "His attack came so soon, yesterday Voldemort was nothing but just a dark wizard, who had a thirst for power and now, he's basically the overlord of all of Wizarding Britain. Thankfully, plans have been made to keep any Death Eaters out of the country, at least in the meantime."

Alexandra sighed in frustration. The foreseeable future was not going to be a good one.

"We first need to figure out what to do with all of our new guests, as sending them back to Britain as obviously out of the question," continued Alexandra. "I don't doubt that Voldemort would have individuals who are leaving and entering the country magically monitored and…"

The Wizarding Wireless channel tuned into the frequency of Ministry of Magic channel in Britain had come to life and the voice of Lord Voldemort could be heard by all.

"Wizarding Britain is now under the control of those who are worthy," said Voldemort shortly. "Lord Voldemort knows that many have fled rather than foolishly take up the fight that cannot be won. No matter where you had gone to, it matters little to me, you are insignificant as far as I am concerned, as those who may have been in the power to stop me have fallen. Gringotts folded, the goblins surrendering control of all of the gold to Lord Voldemort in exchange for the right to carry a wand, all of my followers have been broken out of Azkaban, and I am now effectively in charge of the Ministry of Magic. But, that pales in comparison to the crowning achievement, the ultimate triumph of today, as the only wizard who is willing and able to call my bluff has been eliminated from the equation."

Lily took a deep breath, the worst appeared to have come to past and many others in the room had similar horrified looks as Voldemort paused on the other end of the wireless, before deciding to confirm the thoughts that many individuals had on the other end.

"Harry Potter has failed," said Voldemort in a chilling tone of voice. "There is no one left who can oppose me and let this serve as a warning to all who might try. The consequences for defying Lord Voldemort will be most deadly. Now, with the end of the old era gone, a brave new world will come to pass under the power of Lord Voldemort. This goes as a warning to any of the other magical leaders in other countries who may listen to this broadcast, as long as you choose not to interfere in my affairs, your country will be spared from my wrath. Farewell."

Voldemort's voice faded from the wireless, as everyone muttered in silence.

"No!" yelled Raph as the Turtles and Master Splinter had checked in to see an update.

"Voldemort has to be lying," said Mikey hopefully. "Harry can't be…"

"It does look bad," admitted Leo darkly, as he looked around. "Harry hasn't shown up, last we've heard, he was fighting Voldemort, but ever since then he's kind of have dropped off, it doesn't look too good."

"Yes, the assessment is grim," admitted Master Splinter as he also looked around, worried about the fate of his youngest son. "But, it's not over yet, always in the darkest day there is always light, a bit of hope, no matter how minuscule."

"Exactly how can we find hope in this?" demanded Raph in a frustrated voice. "Unless Voldemort was mistaken but I doubt…"

At that moment, Ginny made her way into the picture, holding the mirror stiffly, afraid if it moved, she would lose her lifeline to Harry.

"Ginny, Harry's…" stated Leo from the other end of the room but he did not have an opportunity to complete his sentence.

"Still alive, barely," said Ginny in a frantic voice and they looked at her with shocked expressions that slowly turned hopeful, but Ginny waved off their attempts to ask questions. "No time to explain, need to find Lily…"

"I'm right here Ginny," said Lily as she hurried over. "You say Harry's alive, but how?"

"I don't know but his mirror would not have activated if he hadn't been," answered Ginny quickly as she handed it over to Lily, who looked it over, before she quickly made her way past the sea of insanity that was currently in the Potter residence, to the attic where the transmat was located.

"The signal is very faint, but if I can only trace the coordinates, I think I'll be able to bring Harry back no problem," said Lily quickly, as she waved her wand over the mirror, in an attempt to get a lock on Harry and after a few extremely tense seconds, Lily managed to trace where Harry was located and rushed over to the transmat, before she punched in the coordinates, locking onto an organic object at the exact location, that had to be Harry. Quickly, she pressed the button, activating the transport device. It was a one in a million shot that she would get Harry, but right now, those sounded like pretty good odds when compared to the grisly alternative.

Seconds later, Harry appeared on the platform, battered and beaten with his clothes ripped to shreds, along with a large scar from where Voldemort had sliced him on the chest with the score. His body gave an involuntary shudder as he laid on the transmat.

"Still alive," said Lily in relief as she looked at Harry's barley conscious form. "Barely, he needs to be moved to a quiet area where he can be healed and get some rest, but he'll pull through. A few more seconds and…"

Lily left those words hanging and Ginny had no need for her to finish. She bent down, and spotted that the Portus-Amulet that normally was around Harry's neck was missing.

"If I didn't call him on the mirror, there was no way he could have escaped," muttered Ginny weakly as she watched Lily gently move Harry to the next room. So many times Harry had come close to dying recently, Ginny had watched it and it pained her to see Harry put himself in these situations. She admired Harry for doing so, when no one else did but at the same time it scared her to death the lengths that Harry was willing to protect those he cared about. The part that actually angered Ginny was that no matter what Harry did, his best efforts had been in vain, especially considering how easily Voldemort took control of the Ministry. There were many worthy of protecting but so many more that caused Ginny to briefly wonder if the majority of Wizarding Britain deserved Voldemort. Deep down, Ginny admitted that no one, no matter how corrupt, deserved to be ruled by a mad man, but the fact that only those individuals who were trying to make the world better were paying for the sins of the Wizarding World.

"Ginny are you okay?" asked Luna who had entered the room at the moment.

"No," replied Ginny. "Harry's said that the only reason that he even bothers fighting Voldemort is because it's the right thing to do but is it the right thing for him to do?"

"That's a question that I don't think I can answer Ginny," said Luna seriously.

"Daphne and Theodore were killed just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time," added Ginny in a dismal voice. "Harry nearly died today because he cares too much, he doesn't want to see people hurt. I don't either but at the same time, is Voldemort responsible for the current state of the Wizarding World or is the current state of the Wizarding World responsible for Voldemort?"

"More deep questions, further beyond what I can answer, it is like the age old Muggle riddle about the chicken or the egg" answered Luna calmly. "Life has proven beyond all else that it's simply not fair. Harry has no obligation to face off against Voldemort, none of us do. We chose to and perhaps that choice is more deadly now that Voldemort is essentially Wizarding Britain. He's come out of the shadows, now he has no reason to hold back."

"If only someone had stopped him before he gained so much power," concluded Ginny bitterly as she thought back, surely the warning signs were there, but Tom had always been manipulative, he had always charmed others to follow his ideals and those who were in the power to call his bluff chose not to, for their own reasons.

"We can never go back," said Luna sadly. "The price is too great, we can only hope that our friends and our family that are still trapped in that nightmare can find an escape from it all and perhaps someone rises up to challenge him once again."

"Harry," replied Ginny who looked absolutely terrified of the possibility that Harry would try again to face him again but no matter what, Ginny would do everything in her power to help Harry, even if it appeared to be hopeless, especially when the final two Horcruxes have not been even close to being located.

"Physical wounds heal easily, mental trauma is everlasting," commented Luna mysteriously. "In time the answer to who can stand up to Voldemort will be found. Eventually someone will expend enough effort to bring him down."

"I hope so, Luna," replied Ginny, whose mind was on everything that had happened recently. Dark days were ahead on the other side of the world and Voldemort had effectively won a major battle in the war, and perhaps even basically won the entire war.

Back at Hogwarts, all the students who were not evacuated, along with the teachers, were ushered back into the Great Hall, an infinite number of Death Eaters and Voldemort controlled Ministry Aurors arrived. The teachers no doubt feared retribution from their attempts to keep the school away from the hands of the Dark Lord but were adamant that they had done the right thing. Even saving lives of a few was a noble endeavor, even if they did lose the best chance they've had of ending this menace when Harry Potter was killed.

"All rise for the Dark Lord!" called Dolohov as Voldemort entered the Great Hall, robes, billowing behind them as the all the students and teachers, paralyzed with fear, watched as Voldemort entered the Great Hall. The Dark Lord's mere presence made the atmosphere rather chilling as he stepped behind the head table, before he looked off into the distance at the population at Hogwarts, the red slits that were his eyes fixed upon everyone.

"Students and faculty at, welcome to another year at Hogwarts," declared Voldemort softly.

"There will be many changes that will affect the curriculum of this school. Namely, the class Muggle Studies will be revamped. In time, you will be educated in all the ways that Muggles are inferior to us and all attempts over the years to attempt to stop us, in vain, but their efforts were quite bred from ignorance. That class has a small staff change as it will now be taught by one of my most faithful followers, Bellatrix Lestrange. I can assure you she'll be more than able to educate you about what Muggles truly are."

The masked form of Bellatrix looked out, as she acknowledged the students, who for the most part seemed too terrified to move, with a full pureblood supremacists clapping at this staff change.

"Secondly the subject of Divination is stricken from the curriculum, as it is obvious that your future will be under the rule of Lord Voldemort and there is no need to waste time and resources on such a pointless endeavor," continued Voldemort. "All of the other subjects except for one more will remain as is, but will be replaced by able candidates loyal to me. Yes, Lord Voldemort knows that you teachers aided in an escape and as a result, you will be taken to Azkaban and imprisoned for the rest of your miserable lives for your treasonous actions. Aurors, do your job."

"You heard the Dark Lord," replied Thicknesse, as a group of Aurors moved over, placing their wands on the teachers. "I suggest you come along quietly, and there will be no need for violence."

The teachers obviously didn't want to go, but a fire fight would risk the lives of countless innocents, so reluctantly, they rose to their feet, McGonagall looking especially angered, narrowing her eyes at some of the Aurors, who looked extremely uncomfortable, but a slow nod by Voldemort accompanied by a dangerous glare encouraged them to pick up the pace.

"Come, move it now," prodded the Auror as he escorted the teachers from Hogwarts.

"Finally, comes the matter of Defense Against the Dark Arts," concluded Voldemort. "The Dark Arts part fits in well, but the defense part has got to go. Therefore, you will learn how to fully utilize the dark arts. I expect many of you to be squeamish but in time, you will have the imagination to appreciate what I teach you. Muggle test subjects will be brought in as these skills cannot flourish without practical experience. Naturally, I would entrust teaching the members of this brand new Wizarding World the most crucial skills they need to put Muggles in their place than myself. In class, you will all refer to me as master or my lord, or suffer my displeasure."

Many within the Great Hall were longing of the happy days of Umbridge as their teacher with the announcement that Voldemort would be the brand new Defense Against the Dark Arts or rather, the Dark Arts teacher, this year and most likely for many more at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

"Classes will commence in a couple of days, as all students who have been pulled out by their parents this year will be forced to return, as attendance for this year will be mandatory and you will also be required to spend three hundred and sixty five days inside this castle for the seven years required, although I will be merciful enough to allow your relations to visit on select weekends and holidays," added Voldemort with a twisted smirk. "One further thing, as you eat the feast that has been prepared, all Mudbloods are to remain in the Great Hall after the meal and to anyone of unworthy blood who might attempt to pass themselves off as something they are not by escaping, I shall find out. The consequences when I do will be most severe, I can assure you."

Several muggleborn students looked petrified at this proclamation by Voldemort, as food appeared on the table. Many of them wondered if this would their last meal. Time seemed to move in slow motion, as no one seemed to have the nerve to talk, a complete atmosphere of fear paralyzed the entire Great Hall.

"All who are acceptable are dismissed to return to your Common Rooms," replied Voldemort softly and all the non-muggleborn students got up, walking off, most pitying what the muggleborns had to go through, but they realized that to attempt to go up against Voldemort in an entire Hall full of Death Eaters would be extremely foolish.

Voldemort turned, staring at the remaining students with a cold glare.

"So, you've dared to befoul our hallways by coming here, Mudbloods," said Voldemort in a chilling voice.

"The only one who is befouling this place is you," piped up a third year girl and Voldemort stared at her.

"Child, you have no idea what you are speaking of," replied Voldemort. "Let it be known I killed Harry Potter…"

"Harry was a better wizard than you'll ever be!" piped up another third year. "He doesn't need a fake name to make people to notice him."

A pair of Death Eaters grabbed the third year, pulling her up and forcing her to face Voldemort.

"Harry Potter is dead, he failed you all, some hero you have," replied Voldemort calmly.

"Harry's still alive in our hearts," said a second year girl bravely. "He gave his life to protect Hogwarts, to save us all…"

"How touching," hissed Voldemort. "Children flocking to their hero, like dimwitted sheep, it seems is if you would all like to meet up with Harry again."

Voldemort nodded coldly and the Death Eaters, along with the remaining Aurors in the Great Hall rounded up the muggleborn students, disarming them when necessary, and removing them from Hogwarts to face their final fate.

Alexandra returned to the American Wizarding Government Headquarters where the head Auror, Richards, walked up to her.

"He's taken over, I heard rumors that the International Confederation of Wizards is going to sanction Britain, cutting it off from the rest of the Wizarding World," remarked Richards.

"It's just as well, they should have stepped in years ago, but they want to wash their hands of Britain, pretending it doesn't exist," replied Alexandra. "We obviously can't step in because of the principles this government was founded on centuries ago, unless Voldemort attacks us or does something that basically is a declaration of war against our entire country. Right now, the safety of the citizen of this country, both magical and Muggle are of utmost concerned. Prepare to restrict all magical transportation both inside and outside the country."

"Of course Madam President Morgan," replied Richards with a nod. "Will there be anything else?"

"Yes, we have had several new guests who managed to escape Hogwarts before it fell," added Alexandra. "See what you can do to get them places to live, along with integrating the Aurors into your department whenever possible, getting them up to speed on our regulations."

Richards nodded, before he walked off, his department would be working overtime for a few days, but it was all necessary to protect all the citizens of their country.

Ginny sat outside Harry's room, legs crossed, as she stared up at the ceiling with an absent minded look. Harry would pull through but still Ginny wondered what would happen to everyone else who had been left behind at the mercy of Voldemort. The only two Weasleys that were known to escape were Ron and her, the others were still over in that doomed country.

"Ginny?" asked Hailey, breaking Ginny out of her thoughts, as she was joined by Neville, Ron, Luna, and Hermione. "Any progress with Harry."

"No, he's still out of it, but he'll be fine," replied Ginny calmly.

"That's good," remarked Hermione in relief. "Harry's suffered worse come to think about it, but he's never come closer…"

"So what do we do next?" asked Ron. "I mean, the others are still trapped over there, perhaps Harry can do something…"

"No," replied Ginny shaking her head. "Do not pressure Harry into risking his life by going over there."

"But don't you want to get everyone out safely, Ginny?' demanded Ron.

"Of course I do," said Ginny shortly. "Still, with Voldemort having the entire Ministry of Magic in his back pocket, along with a large army of Death Eaters and various other dark creatures, going over there right at this moment when Voldemort's on high alert for resistance would be suicidal."

"Besides, Harry's done enough, if he wants to go back eventually, fine, but we shouldn't really pull his arm," added Neville.

"Thanks Neville, that's exactly what I was thinking," replied Hailey. "He has no duty to anyone, the Ministry of Magic were the one's who failed everyone, and while it's sad that all those innocents will suffer…"

"Unfortunate, but perhaps everything will work out," remarked Luna.

"How, would it all work out Luna?" asked Ron. "You-Know-Who has won and…"

"It's not over, not yet, there will be someone who will be able to go up against Voldemort, eventually," replied Luna. "Now is not the right time for someone to do so with everything's that happened."

"Everyone else has been moved down to the headquarters for the resistance group, in the meantime, until the American Wizarding Government can find them living quarters for the time being," informed Hermione. "Sirius and Remus made it out in time, they're downstairs, but other than that, we're the only one's who are still here."

Ginny sat calmly and she heard a movement from inside Harry's room, and she rose to her feet, a hopeful look etched on her face.

"What is it Ginny?" asked Luna.

"I think Harry might be awake, I'll go in check, he might not want to many visitors, I suspect the others will want to be informed if he is, though," replied Ginny quickly as she opened the door and moved into Harry's room, looking hopefully, as Harry looked up at her, with a tired and weary look in his eyes.

"Hi Ginny," said Harry weakly and Ginny rushed over to Harry.

"Harry, I'm so glad you're awake," replied Ginny, as she wrapped her arms around Harry, before she kissed him with Harry weakly, but happily returning the favor, before Ginny broke off from Harry. "Now, was it necessary to scare me half to death?"

"No, Ginny, I didn't mean to, I tried to get away, but Voldemort was too quick," explained Harry. "He removed the Portus-Amulet from my neck, just as I was about to escape, he trapped me in that crypt and tried to drown me. He wanted me to serve as an example to anyone who stood up against him, I never felt so helpless in my life, in a crypt without air for almost five minutes, no way to perform magic either as I was too weak to perform wandless magic and Voldemort had taken my wand but how in the name of Salazar Slytherin did you get me out of there?"

"The mirror Harry, Lily managed to trace the signal and set the transmat to remove you from the lake," answered Ginny quickly. "Wait, how did you survive for five minutes without air?"

"I managed to slow my breath and heart rate, just enough to put myself in a temporary comatose state, extremely temporary, as it wouldn't have worked for too long," responded Harry. "Built in survival instincts, but if Mum hadn't pulled me out, I would be done, no questions about it but I'm safe and alive."

"Thankfully," muttered Ginny in relief. "Harry, he's won."

"I know," answered Harry in a grim, deflated voice.

"Only a handful of people managed to get out, there are still many others over there," added Ginny. "Britain's being cut off from the rest of the world and well, Harry, I'm scared for those who are left over there but at the same time, I don't want you to think it's your responsibility to get them out of there."

"Ginny, you're right, it's not my responsibility," replied Harry in a final voice. "It's over, I've given Voldemort my best and it wasn't enough. It's a shame that not everyone got out in time and perhaps they will at some time, but it won't be me."

"So, Harry, it's really over," said Ginny, in a disbelieving voice, she was prepared to follow Harry whatever he did, and as much as she did not want Harry to risk his life to fight a futile battle against Voldemort, it was a bit shocking that Harry had thrown his hands up in the air in defeat. She had a mixture of emotions, relief that Harry was safe, despair at the fact that the rest of her family would not be able to get out, and anger that the Ministry of Magic had allowed this entire mess to escalate this far.

"Yes, Ginny, for the best, I'm not going to allow Voldemort to ruin my life," answered Harry as he reached forward and grabbed Ginny's hand. "The Ministry just stepped back and let him take control, I never thought I'd say this, but I give up, Voldemort can have that wretched country, but I do hope that the remaining decent people can get out before its too late."

"Voldemort does think you're dead, Harry," muttered Ginny.

"Good, I'm not in a hurry to do anything that would discourage that notion," said Harry. "I did my best, I failed, the end, its over, Ginny, you understand right?"

"Always Harry," replied Ginny with a feeble smile, wondering what lasting effects this latest defeat against Voldemort would have on Harry. "I know I support you and you've got the full support of everyone else to do what you wish regarding Voldemort, prophecy be damned. If you change your mind, I'll be by your side, my love."

"I can't see that ever happening, there's no way I can beat Voldemort," said Harry in a final tone, prepared to let it die. "Not unless I become like him."

"Harry, you care too much about others to become anything like Voldemort," whispered Ginny in a reassuring voice but Harry turned away, if only it was Voldemort that Harry feared turning into.


	4. Chapter 4: The Faux Phantom

**Chapter Four: The Faux Phantom**

It was days after Lord Voldemort had committed his hostile takeover on the entire Wizarding World. It was difficult to know exactly what was going on over in Britain after Voldemort's radio announcement, as pretty much the doomed country was cut off from the rest of the world. Other than the odd Muggle news piece about mysterious disappearances and deaths over in Britain, news did not travel to the rest of the world.

"So, it's really over," said Neville in a calm voice as he was walking with Hailey, Luna, Ron, and Hermione on the streets of New York in the early part of the evening, all of them mostly getting away from the slightly moody atmosphere of the Potter residence on that evening. "Harry's given up just like that."

"No, I can't believe it, Harry's endured worst," replied Hailey. "While he has no obligation to go back, I don't think he's done with Voldemort forever, just for the foreseeable future."

"I'm worried about what this will do to Harry long term," voiced Hermione. "I just remember when I nearly died against Bellatrix; it really shook me up for a long time, hell I'm still shaken up, and…"

"Harry says he's fine but if I know him, he's anything but fine," added Hailey. "Failing everyone might have gotten to him a bit more than he's let on, losing to Voldemort, I know he's said that he's through, but it's got to be eating him up on the inside…"

"His total dismissal of everything is just Harry's way of coping, we all have these defenses to deal with the hardships that life deals us," answered Luna calmly. "Harry is stronger than most, he'll be fine, it might be some time, but he'll pull through, he has before."

"But, this looks like it might be the last straw, after what happened to Daphne and Theodore last year," added Hermione.

"Not to mention the final battle with the Shredder, the fact he was nearly too late," shuddered Hailey. "They were in bad shape after that…"

"Still, if anyone can shake all this off eventually, it's Harry," said Neville. "I remember when most of the school hated him during the entire mess with the Chamber. The fact that everyone around him pointed the finger at him, but Harry managed to weather the storm, after that year, he returned stronger than ever. This could be one of those times once again that Harry comes back when we counted him out."

"Hopefully," remarked Ron speaking up for the first time as he looked around. "So, where can we eat in this city, I'm sorry?"

"I suspect loads of places, but Hailey would know better than anyone since she's lived here most of her life," replied Luna quickly, before Hermione could say anything regarding Ron's one track mind regarding food.

"Yes, there's a great pizza place around the corner, an ice cream shop not far from that, it serves the best ice cream in the entire city, with chocolate syrup on the top, " remarked Hailey in an excited voice. "It's just really where you'd want to go, I suppose."

"Yes, but are there any places that serve normal food in this city?" asked Hermione.

"I suppose there might be, but really, I can eat what you call normal foods at home all I want, and besides, chocolate is one of the five basic food groups, isn't it?" asked Hailey and Ron, Luna, and Neville all nodded in agreement, with Hermione sighing in irritation, it was apparent that she was being outvoted on this situation. Perhaps being raised by two parents who were dentists had caused her diet to be a bit skewed against sweets, at least the one's that contained sugar.

The five entered the shop, to get their ice cream, to enjoy a pleasant hour without talk about the Voldemort incident, as it was very depressing to say the least. A few moments after they sat down, as was the case in this city, something bad was to happen. Indeed, at that moment, the doors of the ice cream parlor and a quartet of thieves entered the ice cream parlor entered, wearing ski masks and packing Federation laser blasters that they no doubt acquired from the black market.

"All right, listen up, give us all your money and jewelry, and then we'll let you get back to eating your sweats," ordered one of the thieves as they pointed their laser blasters, at the patrons of the ice cream parlor.

"Maybe if we disapparate out the back door, we can escape these crazy Muggles, get some help you know," muttered Ron in an undertone.

"But, we'll leave all these people in here, with them," replied Neville. "I don't think that would be a good idea, maybe we can summon those weapons away from them…"

"Too risky, I don't know exactly how those things would work, but it could set them off," argued Hermione as she looked at Hailey who looked irritated that Hermione expected her to know something.

"Don't ask me, Harry would know, but I sure as hell don't," whispered Hailey, but the thieves had reached the table, pointing the laser blasters over towards the group.

"Alright, you punks, better cough up, or we'll blow your damn brains out," demanded the thief as they pointed the blasters, but a large gust of wind blew the doors open and the thieves spun around in anger, along with Hailey, Luna, Ron, Hermione, and Neville, who all gawked at the figure standing in the door.

Hailey could hardly believe in hers. In the door stood a girl, with a tight platinum version of her Black Phantom costume that Hailey's mother most certainly would not have allowed her to wear outside the house had she know about it, with her hands on her hips, in a heroic pose, with a triumphant on her face, showing perfectly straight white teeth, as she stared at the thieves.

"You rogues thought you could harm these citizens, but you were mistaken, now you will all fall before the might of the Platinum Phantom!" cheered the newcomer as she walked forward towards the wound be thieves who laughed at the gall of this new comer and even Hailey's eyes were wide at the gall of this egotistical new comer.

"Exterminate us, you've got another thing coming if you think that, girl, liquidate her boys," ordered the lead thief and they fired the laser blasters right at the Platinum Phantom, firing them in the blink of an eye. Rather then being obliterated, the Platinum Phantom spun her wrists, the metallic wrist bands deflected the fire right back at the blasters. The thieves were knocked backwards, dropping down to the ground and the Platinum Phantom quickly rushed around, before she grabbed one of the thieves around the throat and tossed him to the ground. A laser blasted from her wrist band immobilized the thief in a stasis field. Two other thieves rushed the Platinum Phantom but she jumped over their attack with expert grace. The thieves turned around and she rushed around them, seemingly at the speed of light, they were bound in thick cords, dropping to the ground.

That left one final thief and he aimed a punch. The Platinum Phantom blocked the punch with expert precision and wrenched the arm back viciously, before she flipped her attacker over onto his back. The thief rose up to his feet, dazed and the Platinum Phantom knocked him out with one vicious punch, dropping him down to the ground. The Platinum Phantom stepped back, with all four of the thieves knocked out, before she turned to the crowd.

"Fear, not fair citizens, the danger has passed, thanks to the glorious efforts of the Platinum Phantom," declared the Platinum Phantom as she waved at the crowd, with a big smile etched on her face. "And no matter where evil lurks, I'll always be there to serve my public."

The Platinum Phantom made a big production of leaving the ice cream parlor, as Hailey looked on in absolutely irritation about how pompous this supposed hero was to be. Hailey was known to show off from time to time, but she also knew when to get serious, when it was time to get down to business instead of showing off. The fact that this either appeared to be an obsessed fan or a blatant imitation did not really do much to ease Hailey's rising temper.

"Well, that was interesting," replied Luna calmly as she went back to her ice cream as if nothing had happened.

"Yes, thankfully she saved us but did she really have to make a big production out of doing so?" asked Hailey.

"Yes, I agree, it was almost like she wanted to see as many people as possible make the save," agreed Neville. "So what do you think she's up to?"

"I don't know, but rather suspicious isn't it?" replied Hailey, more to herself than the others, as this Platinum Phantom remained a bit of a mystery, one that Hailey was not going to rest easily until she solved it.

"Oh honestly!" exclaimed Hermione in an agitated voice as she craned her neck to look out the window and spotted the Platinum Phantom posing for pictures from the medium, waving from high above, with a bubbly smile on her face to a few cheers from the crowd below. "Have you ever seen anyone who was so pompous?"

"Besides Lockhart and Malfoy, no," answered Ron as he looked out the window as well as the Platinum Phantom continued to wave to the crowd from high above, as more individuals joined the crowd.

"I'm suddenly lost my appetite," replied Hailey in disgust. "If it's all the same to you guys, I'm going to head home."

"I'll come with you, might not be a good idea for you to walk home," said Neville.

"Go, you two, I'm sure we can find our way back home," prompted Hermione with a smile, waving the two off and without another word, Neville and Hailey walked from the ice cream parlor, past the sea of humanity, back to the Potter Residence before it became to dark. Once everyone had gone to bed, Hailey needed to make a quick change of clothing, to determine what in the world was going on with this Platinum Phantom business.

Once the crowd had died down, the Platinum Phantom walked off, looking rather smug at the adoration that she received, well deserved, by her actions, in flawlessly putting down those four criminals.

"Having fun?" asked a distorted voice within the ear of the Platinum Phantom causing her to stop in her tracks. "Do not forget your place, your mission is to give me detailed specifications of what I need to know, so I can plan my next move, the vigilante act is but a cover for your real mission."

"Come on, lighten up a little bit, the people ate it up, they seemed to appreciate my efforts a lot more than you do I might add," replied the Platinum Phantom. "Don't worry, I'll get your little specifications, don't know why you really bother with this world anyway, it does not affect you, H…"

"Remember your place," warned the voice. "Your attempted treachery, actually sympathizing for the rights of the masses, never quite understanding how much of a danger their freedom brings to the entire world, nearly destabilized everything that I tried to achieve once."

"Believe me I learned my lesson after I was sent to that horrid place," replied the Platinum Phantom with a slight shudder. "Still, there has to be another way, you rule through fear, through manipulation, does that really make you any better than those who you attempt to protect us from? Sure there are a few dangerous people who deserve it, but to put everyone under your rule…"

"It's necessary, you have too much of a naïve view of the world, to think the majority can be trusted to make decisions for themselves," remarked the voice. "Now, use your cover to gain the trust of the people whenever possible, but it is just a cover. Do not get too enamored in the idea of sympathizing with these disruptive elements. And don't get overconfident, as there are those who would seek to stop you if there is any hint of what you're up to."

"C'mon no one can touch me in this outfit," replied the Platinum Phantom in a slightly pompous voice. "You should have seen the way that I trashed those four punks, without breaking a sweat, it was so totally awesome…"

"Petty thieves with no skills, the suit can handle flawlessly and indeed, it is made of a special platinum alloy that will repel most magic and Muggle attacks, making you practically invincible," argued the voice on the other end. "Still, nothing is foolproof, especially when dealing with a naïve fool such as yourself, so remember do not get over confidence or stick around any longer than you have to. The trans-dimensional gateway should be re-powered in forty eight hours, so be sure to complete your mission within that time. Do I make myself clear?"

"Crystal," replied the Platinum Phantom in a deflated voice, as she gave an involuntary shudder. If she had stepped one toe out of line, she would be sent back to that horrid place and three years in that place seemed like an eternity.

Hailey, under the guise of the Black Phantom, watched over the city, it had been several hours since she had snuck out of the house on the cover of night, the illusion charms that she had placed on her bed should be even powerful enough to fool Luna and Hermione, who she was sharing a room with, providing of course they did not look to closely at her bed. Still, the Platinum Phantom had not shown but Hailey remained vigilante. After all, any crime, no matter how big or small would give the Platinum Phantom a perfect opportunity to reach for more glory.

Trouble did in fact come in the form of the super powered hitmen duo of Mr. Touch and Mr. Go, as they walked over to the warehouse right across the street from where Hailey was keeping an intent watch. With Mr. Go's super speed and Mr. Touch's super strength, they were quite the formidable pair, able to recharge their powers just by touching their fists together.

"Mr. Touch I believe we do have a problem," remarked Mr. Go as he locked over the door to the warehouse. "I believe ze door has been locked."

"Then allow me to pick the lock, Mr. Go," replied Mr. Touch as he raised his massive fist before punching right through the steel door, allowing them entrance. "Now, we can do that job."

"Ah yes, excellent work Mr. Go, let us proceed, yes," responded Mr. Go as the two super powered hitmen walked into the factory but Hailey quickly swept down in front of them and rushed forward for the attack, knocking Mr. Go back with a punch. Mr. Touch rushed Hailey with his arms raised and attempted to smash down on the girl's head, but Hailey quickly avoided the impact. Mr. Touch turned around just as Hailey leapt up and caught Mr. Touch with a pair of kicks. Mr. Touch was airborne as he dropped to the ground.

Touch and Go pulled themselves to their feet, and Hailey rushed forward, knowing what was coming next but it was in fact too late as Touch and Go had touched fist, their powers completely recharged.

"I'll take zis silly little girl out, you get the goods, Mr. Touch," replied Mr. Go.

"Absolutely, Mr. Go," agreed Mr. Touch as Mr. Go sprung into action, right towards Hailey, just barely avoided the impact by rolling herself out of the way. Go swung his stylish walking stick right at Hailey but Hailey somersaulted out of the way. Her opponent swung around and caught her with a kick that knocked her right to the ground. Hailey pulled herself up, as she saw Mr. Touch rip a large vault out of the wall. She had no time to register what he was doing as Mr. Go swung his fist right at Hailey. Hailey just managed to drop down and avoid the shot before she flipped over Mr. Go. Hailey landed on her feet and kicked Mr. Go right in the face as he quickly spun around. Mr. Go hit the ground and Hailey spotted a stack of crates above her quick opponent on top of a platform. A slicing charm broke the supports and caused the crates to tumble down onto Mr. Go, putting him out of commission.

"Now, your turn," muttered Hailey under her breath as Mr. Touch was unloading the vault that appeared to have thousands of dollars in cash in it. Touch turned around and went after Hailey, but Hailey dodged the large man's assault. Touch turned around and Hailey was around airborne, somersaulting right down into Mr. Touch. Both her feet impacted the large super powered goon in the chest, dropping him to one knee, before Hailey jumped over him, getting in position to finish him off.

"Never fear, the Platinum Phantom is here!" yelled an excited voice as the Platinum Phantom rushed into action and shot a series of photon beams from her wrist cuffs. Mr. Touch managed to just barely avoid the storm as a severely weakened Mr. Go pulled himself out of the crates, looking punch drunk as he rose to his feet.

"Time to power up, Mr. Touch," slurred Mr. Go as Touch walked forward, with the Platinum Phantom propelling herself right at Touch, knocking him right into Mr. Go. Hailey looked absolutely horrified as the fists of the two super villains touched, powering them back up, just when she had them isolated.

"Ah, much refreshing, Mr. Go," announced Mr. Touch as he ripped a metal beam out of the support structure out of the factory, causing the ceiling to begin to crumble upon both Hailey and the Platinum Phantom. "This should take care of those meddlers."

"And here's our payday," added Mr. Go as he rushed in and collected the stacks of money, before the two super powered fiends escaped the falling debris, as Hailey attempted to go after them, but the Platinum Phantom spun her arms clockwise, knocking bits of debris away from them. Unfortunately, it also blocked Hailey's path and allowed Touch and Go a clean get away.

"Look what you did, you just allowed them to get away!" yelled Hailey in an angry voice.

"Don't fear, I'll capture them, they won't get far, there is no escaping the Platinum Phantom!" responded the Platinum Phantom in a triumphant voice before she got a look at Hailey. "Ah, I see you are a fan of my exploits, but you won't get anywhere in that tacky costume, it's so drab and boring, it looks like you got that out of a box."

"The only thing that's tacky is your attitude, the fact you think that doing good is just a chance to get yourself noticed!" shouted Hailey, losing her temper as she stepped forward. "The fact remains if you hadn't showed off by interjecting yourself in this situation, they wouldn't have gotten away. I've had Touch and Go right where I wanted them, you were the one that knocked them into each other and allowed them to recharge their powers!"

"Now jealously is not becoming, fan," replied the Platinum Phantom calmly, as she removed a piece of paper and a pen, before writing on it and handing it to Hailey. "Here, an autograph, no doubt to inspire you and perhaps one day you'll be as great as me. In fact, if you change that outfit, you'd be already there."

The Platinum Phantom paused as she heard the crowd approaching, a smile twitching on her lips.

"Now if you excuse me, my adoring public awaits me," said the Platinum Phantom as she walked off, swaying her hips as she moved, as Hailey angrily crushed the paper in her hand. This bint thought that everything was a game, that being heroic and doing the right thing was a popularity contest. Still, perhaps Touch and Go were nearby, that they had not gotten away.

Hailey moved from wreckage, to look for the two super powered goons but much to her displeasure, they had escaped along with the alleged heroine. As she moved forward, Hailey felt a hand on her shoulder and spun around quickly, ready to fight, but slightly relaxed when she saw it was only Neville.

"Hailey, what the…" started Neville before he looked at Hailey in shock, dressed up as the Black Platinum.

"How did you know it was me?" hissed Hailey in an undertone. "Most importantly, how did you get here?"

"Well, I overheard a noise, thought it might be trouble and tried to investigate, when I saw you leaving through a window," replied Neville in a calm voice. "I figured it was you, the body type looked about right, so I followed you, tried to find out what you were up to."

"Extremely reckless, almost Gryffindor move aside, I'm actually glad you followed me Neville, because I need to know if you saw which way the Platinum Phantom disappeared to," replied Hailey., who was mentally chastising herself for not implementing a little more stealth

"Actually I did," answered Neville promptly, before he looked around. "She stopped to play the crowd, at least for a few seconds, but it seemed as if she ran off quickly before I could get a better look. Almost like if someone was calling for her but…"

"Of course, she's working for someone," muttered Hailey it made perfect sense. "We need to move quickly, maybe we can find out what she's up to."

"I don't know Hailey, maybe we should get some help, you saw how that outfit gave her those powers," remarked Neville in a reluctant tone of voice. "If you got in her way she might…"

"Neville, I know you're concerned, but I'm more than capable of handling myself, Harry's taught me more than a few tricks," answered Hailey with a smile. "Now, exactly what way did she go?"

"This way," responded Neville as he reluctantly pointed out the direction that he had saw the Platinum Phantom. The two friends walked off, but Hailey suddenly remembered.

"Oh, Neville, please don't tell Harry about my duel identity?" begged Hailey as Neville looked at her.

"Wait, I thought Harry would know," said Neville but Hailey shook her head. "Okay, I guess, it's your business after all, but if anyone tells Harry, it really should be you and not someone else."

"Thanks Neville," replied Hailey gratefully, with a smile and a far off look in her eyes as she stared at Neville for about ten seconds, before she shook her head, ready to get down to business, as they continued to look around, hoping they could gain a fix on the Platinum Phantom.

A loud alarm caught Hailey's attention, the disturbance coming from the Clearwater Research Facility just across the street.

"That's one of those things that Muggles use instead of perimeter charms, right?" asked Neville and Hailey nodded slowly, as she quickly rushed over to see what was up but it appeared that the door had not been forced open physically, which stated that some kind of magical intrusion had taken place. Quickly, Hailey raised her wand and pointed it right at the key hole on the door. A click and the door swung open, allowing Hailey entrance.

The Platinum Phantom was at the main computer of the research facility, quickly scanning through the files and with a nod, she confirmed it, before quickly closing everything out, before covering what she did.

"Everything on the list is being developed here or has already been completed," replied the Platinum Phantom quickly.

"Excellent," remarked the distorted voice. "You have done well so far, but there is still one more variable that may have the potential to pose a problem. At the Solomon Institute across the river, a potential failsafe component should be available but before I complete my plans, I need to ensure that it is there."

"So you want me to go and check for it," said the Platinum Phantom bitterly.

"Of course, it is of the terms of your release, unless you want to go back," answered the voice coolly.

"No!" yelled the Platinum Phantom in a horrified tone as she remembered the torment she suffered in that place, as she hastened to quickly depart, but she turned around and saw Hailey standing in the doorway, blocking her exit. "You know, it might be a good idea for you to get out of here, you don't know what could be lurking around here…"

Quickly Hailey aimed a kick at the Platinum Phantom, but the Platinum Phantom caught her foot in a blink of an eye and shoved Hailey back to the ground. Seconds later, Hailey was blasted with cords, wrapping around her, but quickly, she twisted her body and cut the ropes with a concealed dagger up her sleeve, a little trick that Harry taught her in case she got tied up without a wand. The Platinum Phantom stared down at Hailey like she had grown two hands.

"Now, really, I know you're jealous on me but…" stated the Platinum Phantom but Hailey rushed at her, managing to catch the Platinum Phantom by surprise, knocking her a few steps back. Hailey grabbed a hold of the Platinum Phantom's head, but she appeared to activate some sort of rocket launcher in the heels of her boots, knocking her up into the air and the mask and wig came off in Hailey's hands. Quickly she look up and Hailey's eyes widened, her jaw dropping in absolutely shock as she looked up at the unmasked Platinum Phantom.

It was almost looking into a mirror, as above Hailey, she saw an unmasked duplicate of herself. The only distinguishable difference was that the unmasked Platinum Phantom had straight dark red, auburn hair, as opposed to the slightly unruly hair that Hailey had.

"She's removed your disguise, there is only one thing you must do," muttered the distorted voice in the Platinum Phantom's ear. "Eliminate her."

"Is that really necessary?" asked the Platinum Phantom in a calm voice but Hailey sprung up to knock the Platinum Phantom out of the air with a kick. She managed to drop down, absorbing the majority of the impact as Hailey rushed at her, but the Platinum Phantom grabbed Hailey by the arm and flung her right onto her back. Hailey crashed down onto the ground, cursing mentally as her mask slid off and wig came off.

"Who in the hell are you?" demanded Hailey as she rushed the Platinum Phantom but she was already on the other end of the room and aimed a laser blast at Hailey, who just barely managed to block it with a shield charm.

"I could ask the same question about you," replied the Platinum Phantom, as she made for the exit and Hailey attempted to wrap her mysterious opponent's feet up with a chain shot out of her want but the Platinum Phantom dodged the attack, before making her way out of the research facility, with Hailey in hot pursuit.

Hailey exited the building, with Neville having been knocked on the ground, just pulling himself up. She extended her hand, helping Neville to his feet.

"She knocked me down when she left, she looked just like…" stated Neville.

"I know, but we must not lose her," added Hailey as she spotted the Platinum Phantom across the street and Hailey quickly rushed out.

"Hailey wait, don't you think she might by luring you into a trap?" asked Neville but Hailey was already across the street, as fast as her legs could carry her, into an area where a new shopping mall was under construction, where the Platinum Phantom had gone.

Hailey turned around and the Platinum Phantom raised her hands, before a blue stasis field materialized over a stack of bricks as they levitated into the air.

"I apologize for what I'm going to do, but you do know too much," said the Platinum Phantom in a somber tone.

"Bury her alive," prompted the distorted voice. "Make sure you leave no trace that he can follow."

At this the Platinum Phantom drew back her hand and caused the bricks to fall right onto Hailey, who quickly slid underneath them, managing to blast some of them out of the way, before her pant leg was caught underneath a small stack of them. Hailey looked up as her opponent reached down and began to gasp for air, as the Platinum Phantom wrapped her hands around the throat of Hailey, as she managed to pull herself free, ripping the bottom half of her right pant leg off. The strength of her outfit enhanced the power, as Hailey felt the air quickly leaving her lungs.

"STUPEFY!"

In the blink of an eye, the Platinum Phantom turned around as Neville had hit her with a stunning spell that was completely repelled by the armor and at the speed of light, she was in front of Neville. A huge punch knocked Neville right on his back, before had even a chance to think about defending himself with his wand.

Hailey massaged her throat, as the Platinum Phantom rushed forward to attack, at nearly the speed of light. Quickly, Hailey stuck her foot out, using her opponent's own momentum against her. The Platinum Phantom hit the ground at high speed, but bounced quickly up, right into a leaping kick from Hailey that staggered her back. Hailey quickly swung a punch but the Platinum Phantom caught her arm, before pushing Hailey back to the ground and grabbing her by the shirt. In instant, Hailey found herself launched high into the night sky by her opponent's heel rockets, hanging on for dear life.

"Wait, what would your beloved fans say if they saw you commit a murder?" asked Hailey as it appeared the Platinum Phantom was about to launch her to the ground with full force, but this paused her. "Yes, I suppose they wouldn't be all that thrilled, some heroine you'd turn out to be."

The Platinum Phantom looked more hesitant than ever before.

"Remember, if you fail, you'll go back," muttered the voice in her ear and the Platinum Phantom let go, causing Hailey to fly to the ground. Neville looked up in horror, before he quickly threw himself forward, just barely managing to catch Hailey before she hit the ground. Neville staggered back and fell backwards, in an awkward momentum the ground with Hailey over Neville's lap. Hailey turned away, blushing slightly, not able to look Neville in the face but at that second, the Platinum Phantom dropped down in front of her, before she grabbed Hailey and flung her several feet. Hailey crashed to the ground, the top part of her Black Phantom costume slightly ripped from the impact.

"Stay down this time!" demanded the Platinum Phantom as she propelled herself forward and attempted to punch Hailey but she flipped over the charge. The Platinum Phantom skidded to the ground and turned around to see Hailey scale up the beams of building under construction.

"Catch me if you can," taunted Hailey and the Platinum Phantom propelled herself upwards, right towards Hailey but Hailey leapt down at the last moment. In an instant, the Platinum Phantom was forced to put on the breaks. "Surely you can catch me in that outfit, I mean, it seems to be indestructible!"

Neville looked on in awe, wondering if Hailey was absolutely suicidal and the Platinum Phantom shot down, the metallic wrist bands glowing.

"I have to kill you, I won't go back!" shouted the Platinum Phantom but Hailey dodged out of the way and the Platinum Phantom impacted the ground with both fists. A shockwave erupted towards the ground, knocking both Hailey and Neville from their separate points back and no doubt may have rocked the entire city.

"If that would have hit…" muttered Hailey in a horrified tone of voice as the Platinum Phantom moved forward, but Hailey spotted she was close to a cement mixer. Quickly, all too aware that she had only one shot to make it count, Hailey flicked a shuriken right at the swing, striking it. The Platinum Phantom turned around and was covered in cement, from the neck down. Before she could move, Hailey jabbed her wand, causing the cement to harden around her. Not even the super powerful platinum outfit that she wore could break out of the cement.

"Hailey, are you okay?" asked Neville in a concerned voice.

"Fine thanks for asking but that black eye looks pretty nasty," replied Hailey with a smile.

"Well, she hits really hard," offered Neville with a shrug as Hailey walked over, a bit sore and in a slightly tattered outfit, but the Platinum Phantom was in a worse state, unable to move in the hardened cement.

"It had to be done, you need to let me go," said the Platinum Phantom quietly.

"No, you will be answering a few questions," argued Hailey, as she stared at this girl, this essential mirror image of her. "Namely, who the hell are you and who are you working for?"

The Platinum Phantom paused and when she saw a pair of wands in her face, with no way to defend herself, she sighed, admitting defeat.

"I was…" started the Platinum Phantom but she never finished as a large burst of electricity erupted from the area around her head and her eyes became wildly blank. Hailey could have sworn she saw a metallic hand band over her counterpart's forehead for the briefest second, but it was not visible after that second, so Hailey reasoned it must have been a trick of the light.

The Platinum Phantom looked up at Hailey, with an unresponsive look in her eyes, as if she was unaware where she was and Neville looked like she had seen a ghost.

"Hailey, I don't think we'll get anything out of her, she looks just like…" started Neville before dropping his voice into a slightly embarrassed mutter. "My parents, after what happened to them."

"We need to get her out of here and get some help," suggested Hailey feebly, knowing that if what Neville was saying was true, their would be no way the girl's mind would heal, so they could get information.

"So who do you think is behind this entire business?" asked Neville as they snuck back to the Potter Residence after the Platinum Phantom was in the care of the trained healers at the American Wizarding Government headquarters.

"No idea," replied Hailey with a shrug. "Your guess is a good as mine Neville but let's hurry up and get back, it's a bit after midnight right now and certain members of my family have been known to get up pretty early."

"Agreed," said Neville, as they reached the driveway of the Potter Residence, before sneaking in when the coast was clear and silently parted ways to their separate rooms.


	5. Chapter 5: I Monster

**Chapter Five: I Monster**

A month had passed since all of Wizarding Britain had fallen under the control of Lord Voldemort. Not much news got out, other than the rumors that any resistance was met with the most brutal force. Most had just grown to accept the regime of Lord Voldemort, even if they did not like it. Harry, who had spent most of his time in the Potter residence, reading the various magical texts and attempting to perfect his ninjitsu skills, was mostly numb to all the news coming out. Voldemort had won, he had lost, it was over, no two ways about it. The Ministry proved their incompetence one last time but at least mostly everyone who was salvageable escaped from that doomed section of the Wizarding World while they could. The few that still remained, well Harry hoped they did not do anything foolish like go up against Voldemort before they got out. Maybe some day, someone would be able to finish off Voldemort, but without the Horcruxes, it was an impossible task. As was finding the Horcruxes for that matter, as all leads pointing to potential Horcrux locations had turned up dry.

"Hi Ginny," remarked Harry without looking up from his book as Ginny entered the room. "How are you?"

"Fine Harry," answered Ginny who sat down right next to Harry. "Hermione insisting that we all keep up on our schoolwork despite being shut out of the Wizarding World is rather bothering, but I can see where we go. At the current rate, we'll be able to take the American equivalency of the N.E.W.Ts within the next year or so, but there are a lot of gaps, mostly due to Ministry mandates I suspect."

"Yes, the Ministry did do away with a few subjects at Hogwarts over the years that many other countries retained," agreed Harry in a bitter voice, as he was sure that some of those classes, like a structured dueling class for example, would have served them well. "Still, with enough effort, we can teach each other, but obviously there is only so much it can do when in a real situation."

"So, Harry, how are you holding up?" asked Ginny.

"Fine Ginny, everything's great," replied Harry with a slightly strained smile, as he returned to his book, flipping through it.

"I'm concerned Harry, you've been quiet lately, a bit focused on improving both with magic and Muggle fighting techniques," said Ginny slowly, choosing her words carefully, not wanting to accuse Harry of something.

"Just want to better myself Ginny," muttered Harry calmly. "You know how it is, you can never learn too much and your best can not be enough."

Ginny sat, looking at Harry, deciding to accept that explanation, but wondering exactly how much losing to Voldemort had affected Harry mentally. He had been a bit driven in his training, it was almost scary of how hard in pushed himself. The others had ventured out into the city many times but Harry had declined to go, saying that he had training to do. Ginny hated being shut up in a house personally, so she reluctantly left Harry to go out with her friends, but not for too long. It was an unspoken agreement between her and Lily that at least one of them remain in the house at all times, to ensure Harry did not overexert himself too much, as he did the first time after he had completely healed from his Voldemort related injuries.

Footsteps echoed from the stairs above and Harry looked up, to see his brothers approaching.

"Oh, hello guys, what are you doing here?" asked Harry.

"Well, we were going out and wondered if you want to join us," responded Leo swiftly.

"Yeah, you know, get out of this house, get some fresh air," added Raph.

"Yeah, you'd think you're a hermit Harry, with the way you've been acting," inputted Mikey.

"Sorry, guys, but I can't, I have work to do here and then I'm going to train after that," answered Harry coolly, as he went back to his book.

"Actually, we were going on a bit of a training exercise, to improve stealth," responded Leo quickly and Harry looked up, with slight interest. "We're not going to force you to come but Master Splinter insisted that it would be a good idea to get you out of the house for a few hours."

Harry sighed, it was obvious he was not going to hear the end of this, so he decided to humor his brothers by slowly rising to his feet, reluctantly. Plus, since his Master Splinter had insisted, he decided that it would be for the best, to put across the illusion of normalcy.

"Actually, it would be a good idea, but since I'm supposed to be dead, let me formulate a quick disguise, so I'm not seen by the wrong people," said Harry as he got to his feet, before his long hair shortened and lightened slightly, before he changed his very noticeable emerald green eyes into a brown. "Should be good enough to fool some people, providing they don't know enough to put two and two together, when they see you four."

"Don't be worried Harry, we're masters of stealth and invisibility, nothing can get by us" remarked Mikey in a slightly cocky voice just before he accidentally knocked over a lamp, causing it to crash to the floor. "Ooops."

Harry sighed, before waving his hand, mending the lamp wandlessly, causing the broken pieces to come back together.

"Let's go," suggested Harry curtly, before he turned to Ginny.

"Sorry Harry, I'd like to come, but Hermione's helping me revise tonight, she's only given me a five minute break, I really should be getting back right now in fact," said Ginny in an apologetic voice as she gave Harry a kiss good bye, before Harry walked off with Leo, Don, Raph, and Mikey, to go off on this training exercise.

After walking for a period of time, the five brothers reached an abandoned industrial park just outside the city. The place looked to have been shut down and perhaps condemned for several years, but it was ideal for the exercise at hand.

"Okay, you all remember the rules for Ninja Stealth Hunter?" prompted Leo.

"Of course, Leo, we grab the bandanna, with a thirty second head start and we need to get the other people from finding us," replied Raph in a tense tone of course.

"Yes, we can hide in any way, by using the landscape of the designated area and our skills in the noble field of ninjitsu to keep from detection," inputted Don as he looked around.

"Yes, no one's been able to keep the bandanna away from detection for more than twenty minutes, the record of course, held by our very own Harry Potter," concluded Mikey as he looked at Harry bowing. "Come on Harry, take a bow, bask in the glory of your tremendous accolades."

"No, Mikey," answered Harry curtly, before he turned to the others. "If I'm not mistaken, I believe its Mikey's turn to take the bandanna and run."

"Well, this shouldn't take too long," remarked Raph with a grin as Leo handed the bandanna over on Mikey, who tied it to his arm.

"I think you underestimate me bro, because remember, I'm the Battle Nexus Champion!" exclaimed Mikey in an excited voice, as he tied the bandanna around the arm before he bolted down the pathway as quickly as he could. "Catch me if you can bros and remember, the clock's ticking."

"You know, how about we leave the Battle Nexus Champion here and play with himself?" suggested Raph but Harry shook his head.

"No, that would defeat the entire point of the exercise, and his sixty seconds are nearly up, so let's start heading out," answered Harry bluntly as the others nodded, before going their separate ways, in an attempt to track down Mikey.

Little did they know, a large, imposing figure was watching them from a ledge high above the ground. This figure was covered in rags, with its face wrapped in bandages, an ice cold expression in its eyes, as stared down the Turtles and Harry, a large group of rats behind it with hungry looks in their eyes, baring their teeth, as the figure turned before walking off, the rats following him.

Mikey dodged into the building, panting heavily, as footsteps approached more rapidly behind him. He froze, as the knob of the door leading into the building began to turn and quickly, Mikey flipped up, grabbing onto the ceiling for dear life as the door pushed open and Don stepped inside. Time seemed to stop for Mikey as Don took a good look around but Mikey prayed that Don would not look up, otherwise he might have set a new record, for the least amount of time that it took to find someone with the bandanna in Stealth Hunter. After an anxious few seconds, where Mikey held his breath, not even daring to move, Don turned his back and exited the building. Giving a sigh of relief, Mikey dropped down, but the door opened and Don burst in.

"A-ha, thought I had you right here Mikey, just made it easier on me!" yelled Don but Mikey quickly rushed forward and swung his nunchucks, slamming them right through the window, shattering it to give himself a chance to exit. Don planted his Bo staff onto the ground and propelled himself out the window and he looked around, but Mikey had just given him the slip, he could have gone any number of directions from their current location.

Harry stood back, not really all that interested in finding Mikey, all too willing to let the others take a crack at beating him this Stealth Hunter. In an instant, Harry stiffened, before he looked up, something was in the top floor of one of the buildings, something that really should not be there. Quickly, Harry jumped up, vanishing the glass on his way up, before he landed firmly on his feet on the top floor, and widely looked around. Whatever was up there certainly was not there anymore as Harry leaned against the wall for a few seconds, having put too much power into his wandless magic spell.

"Harry, what is it, did you see Mikey up here?" asked Leo as he appeared at the top of the stairs.

"No, not Mikey," replied Harry curtly. "There's someone else here beside us, he was just there and then he vanished."

"A ghost of some sort?" suggested Leo but Harry just calmly shrugged, it did seem to be a logical explanation but something told Harry that there was more to this situation that met the eye. He just kept his eyes pealed, for anything strange and unusual that might occur.

Mikey ducked into the shadows, breathing heavily. He had almost ran into Raph, who seemed bound and determined to be the one to find him but it appeared he was safe, at least at the moment.

"Just a few more seconds here, and I can catch my breath, got to keep on the move, they won't let up," breathed Mikey heavily, but he felt a hand on his shoulder. "Okay you've found me and…"

As Mikey turned around, it was obvious that was not in fact one of his brothers. He came face to face with the large imposing individual that had been stalking them all day. Mikey stepped back but the figure roughly reached forward. He grabbed Mikey's arm and reared back his fist. One punch knocked Mikey to the ground. The figure reared its head backwards, laughing evilly, as the rats began to swarm around the unconscious form of Mikey.

In the industrial park, Raph, Don, Leo, and Harry all met, up, all not having any luck.

"Man five minutes and still barely a sight of Mikey, this has to be a new record for him," replied Raph in an irritated voice as he looked around.

"Don't give up yet, we're bound to find him sooner or later," inputted Leo in a reassuring tone of voice, as he looked around, it appeared that no Mikey was in sight, at least not at the moment.

"Agreed, I almost had once, perhaps it we split up, we're have better luck," suggested Don and they did just that, moving in separate directions, to find Mikey, who remained rather illusive, a bit more illusive than usual in his attempts to hide himself in this round of Stealth Hunter.

Mikey gave his head a little shake as he woke up in a dark, dank, rather disgusting smelling room. It took a few seconds to register that he was shackled to what appeared to be a crude looking operating table and he looked up, seeing the same guy who grabbed him. The spooky figure slammed his hands down on the table, staring in Mikey's face, with a menacing glare in his eyes and laughed his cold, insidious laughter, which made the dark and brooding atmosphere that Mikey had found himself in a bit more ominous. The loud chattering of an entire army of vicious looking rats with sharp teeth and eyes that appeared to glow red did not help matters to say the least, as the figure turned to the legions of rats, who stood around, almost transfixed by the presence of this thing, which could only be described as an inhumane monster, based on the laughter he was giving off. The monster nodded as the rats moved towards Mikey, hungry looks in their eyes, as they approached the helpless turtle.

"Hey, back, get away," said Mikey in a horrified voice, who thought he would not be freaking out as much in this situation, given that his sensei was in fact a giant talking rat, but all those hungry, scary, nearly demonic looking rats were causing the turtle. "BACK, GET AWAY FROM ME!"

The monster walked off, laughing evilly, leaving Mikey at the mercy of the rats, who looked ready for a meal and unfortunately, mutant turtle appeared to be on the menu, as they approached Mikey slowly, time seemingly standing still as Mikey attempted to pull himself free.

Raph approached a moldy pile of rubble, that appeared to be twitching and he gave a sigh of absolutely disgust as he stepped forward.

"Mikey, that's got to be the worst hiding place ever," remarked Raph as Leo, Don, and Harry joined him.

"That's just sad," inputted Leo in a disappointed voice as he looked at the twitching pile, Harry just narrowly his eyes in irritation and slight disappointment, not bothering to say a word.

"Not to mention unsanitary," concluded Don as he poked the rubble gingerly with his Bo Staff and the rubble shook.

"Time's up Mikey, time to come out and play," said Raph but a large swarm of rats burst from underneath the rubble, nearly overtaking Raph, Leo, Don, and Harry as they ran off, almost drawn by something off in the distance and they turned around, to see a shadowed figure in the distance.

"Mikey?" prompted Leo but the figure responded by laughing its cold evil laugh and stepped into the light. The monster had found the other three Turtles and Harry.

"That's not Mikey," said Raph slowly as the monster turned, before it rushed off and Harry quickly bolted after it, with the Turtles following behind Harry, as they chased their illusive mystery foe down, knowing that if they lost him, they might not be able to find him again.

Back in the darkened room, the rats were very near Mikey.

"Okay Mikey, block at the rats," muttered Mikey as he screwed his eyes shut. "The ugly, scary, turtle eating rats…"

At that moment, one of the rats had crawled onto Mikey's arm, which prompted the normally fun loving turtle to shriek like a little girl.

"Eww, get off of me, get off of me!" yelled Mikey, managing to jerk his arm enough to knock the rat off. Mikey snapped his feet free before he kicked the rats that were beginning to climb on his legs free and stooped down, the operating table on his back, before he rushed forward. "Sorry boys, but this is one turtle you're not taking a bite out of."

Mikey gained a full head of stream before he rushed forward as fast as he could towards a large hole in the wall that was his ticket out of this horrid place. Several rats sprung up, right on the table on Mikey's back, as they attempted to gnaw their way through, as Mikey kicked his way through more rodents yet.

"Time to get off the Mikey train!" ordered Mikey as he swung his back towards the wall. Most of the rats got off just before Mikey crashed the table through the wall, shattering it into dozens of pieces, before he slipped through the hole in the wall, before the rats could get a fix on him. He staggered a few steps, before dropping to his knees and panted heavily, as he heard noise from behind the wall and it appeared they were attempting to chew through. Quickly, Mikey sprung up to his feet and bolted right out of there, as the rats began to break through.

Leo, Raph, Don, and Harry continued to give chase of the monster, who quickened his steps as he rushed forward. It was beginning to get into the evening and they had been chasing him for several minutes, almost going around in circles.

"It's almost like he's baiting us, like rats in a maze," remarked Don as they watched their mysterious foe take a sharp corner in an attempt to lose them.

"Well, I ain't no lab rat," responded Raph in a moody tone of voice as they continued to follow their foe who sprung up into the air in a somersault and landed right perfectly right over the fence, just before the three Turtles and Harry made their way around the corner and in a moment of frustration, they appeared to have lost their opponent.

Harry looked around, absolutely frustrated, they were so close to having caught up with their foe but a loud rumbling sound was heard from a cellar nearby. The four brothers withdrew their weapons and waited with baited breath, as Mikey sprang through the cellar doors, brushing his hands all over him, freaking out.

"Get them off, get them off!" yelled Mikey in an absolutely frantic voice as he turned to face the others. "I'm glad you guys are here, I was abducted by some whacko who tried to feed me to his army of rats…"

A loud laugh had cut Mikey off and the monster had appeared, standing calmly in the shadows as it stared down the Turtles and Harry.

"That the guy?" asked Raph and Mikey responded with a nod, before their mysterious opponent disappeared into a silo.

"This way!" yelled Harry crisply, as he rushed forward, ready for a fight and his brothers quickly followed Harry, as he jumped in headlong without looking, lead by his anger, as he looked around, in the darkened silo, the only thing visible was several human looking bones.

"It's empty," said Leo. "The guy must of given us the slip."

"Don't be so sure," warned Don as he gazed upwards and the monster was crouched on a ledge above, staring menacingly at his prey before he reared his head backwards and laughed.

"I'd really wish he'd stop doing that, it's really creepy," remarked Mikey in an uneasy tone of voice.

"Don't look now Mikey, but things are just about to get a bit more creepier," responded Raph as in the gaps of the wall, many pairs of beady eyes were visible and Mikey stepped back, along with the others, as the rats moved in.

"The door, now!" ordered Leo and Don, who was closest, made a motion to get it but it blew shut and a small group of rats blocked it, with several more climbing all over the door.

"I can open it, if I can get a clear shot," muttered Harry as the monster laughed from high above and the rats swarmed in. Harry concentrated and a loud bang echoed throughout the silo, backing several of the rats off but it seemed even more came at them, with a vociferous appetite, as they closed in.

One sprung out at Raph, teeth bared but Raph expertly caught it with his Sai as the rat made a movement in an attempt to scratch Raph's face.

"God, ugly little suckers, ain't ya," remarked Raph, as another rat sprung up but Raph blocked it with his Sai, before he flung it to the ground as Leo swiped his katana at the ground, backing off the rats, Mikey swinging his nunchucks as they leapt towards him and knocked them out of mid air.

"Uh, hi guys, my sensei is a rat, you know Master Splinter," said Mikey nervously as he attempted to avoid the rat. "Any relatives here by any chance?"

"Something tells me that they ain't in the mood for a family reunion Mikey," said Raph as he jabbed one of the rats across the top of the head with his Sai, causing blood to spurt everywhere as one climbed onto the arm of Mikey. Mikey shrieked and smacked it with his nunchucks, causing the rat to dislodge. Another rat attempted to climb on Mikey's back and as a result, the turtle swung his weapon back, dislodging it. More rats received the same treatment as they continued to attempt to crawl all over Mikey.

"There must be hundreds of rats, there's no way we can beat them," replied Don as he slammed his Bo Staff down, dislodging several rats that had climbed all over them. More rats snapped at Don's feet, so he stepped back, before he used his weapon like a golf club to bat the rats back.

"We don't have to, just back them off, give them the picture that we're not a meal that's worth their fight," suggested Leo as he swiped his weapon at the rats, backing them off. "Everyone stay away from the walls and get to the center, fight them off!"

The five brothers got back to back and swung their weapons at the rats as they attempted to advance upon them. The rats made a couple of futile attempts to get at them but after a couple of moments, this plan deterred them from making any more attempts at the group. The monster, from his perch high above, gave an inhumane groan as the rats disappeared back into the wall, having been backed off by the quintet of ninjas.

"Now, a way out, Harry," suggested Leo in an uneasy voice and Harry moved to open the door, but the monster nodded from above, before he broke into a loud round of laughter before he dropped down. Quickly, he sprung off the wall and knocked Mikey backwards with a double fist to the face. Harry rushed the attacker but a large burst of red light erupted from the monster's hand and knocked Harry right on his backside.

"What in the hell?" exclaimed Harry in confusion, before wincing in pain, at being hit with a very distinctive stinging spell. The monster dodged Leo's attacks before grabbing Leo around the waist and flipping him up right into Don. Both turtles grabbed down and Raph flung his Sais right at the monster. His foe expertly caught them, before he tossed them back at Raph in a blink of the eye. Raph was caught off guard and knocked right onto his shell by his own weapons being flung right back at him.

"That looked vaguely familiar," said Don slowly as he approached his brother to help him up.

"Yes, it seems like I've seen those moves before," added Leo but Harry pulled himself up as the monster had sprung up back to his ledge and reared back, his very distinctive and extremely spooky laughter cutting through the air.

"Don't look now, but here come the rats again!" exclaimed Don and sure enough, the rats exited the all, making their way towards the Turtles and Harry, ready for another round with the brothers.

"Then it's time for us to bust out!" yelled Raph taking the initiative as Harry was too busy fighting rats to create an exit. He rushed forward towards Mikey, who had pulled himself to his feet. Mikey screamed and ducked, as Raph smashed through the wall, allowing the brothers an exit from the silo.

"Way to go bro," remarked Mikey as he patted Raph on the shell as the others exited the silo. "I always said you were as thick as a brick."

Before Raph could respond, their opponent launched himself over their heads. They turned around, just to see the monster land gracefully right on the building across from there. Their mysterious foe did the only thing that he seemed to able to do, he laughed evilly and Harry stepped forward, the laughter was starting to get on his nerves, so he removed six shuriken from a pouch and quickly flicked them at his enemy. The monster expertly deflected five of the shuriken back towards the Turtles and Harry, forcing them to scatter as the sharp weapons impacted in the ground. From high above, their opponent looked down by the section of roof crumbled from above him, causing him to drop down to the ground, giving an inhumane grunt as he dropped down and Harry looked up, with focused but the scene around them became quiet.

"It's over, let's go," suggested Harry in a tired voice but the same insidious laughter that had been taunting them all night had reappeared and Harry spotted the face that had taunted him walking back into the picture and quickly he rushed forward for the attack, but the monster propelled itself high into the air, before Harry could even managed to move forward and dropped right behind Harry. It swung its fist, sending a large jet of blue light out of mid air towards Harry but Harry dodged, causing it to obliterate a window behind him. "Guys, this thing can do magic, stay back…"

A jet of orange light propelled right at Harry, who concentrated and a shield erected around Harry to absorb the impact, but also cause the Boy-Who-Lived to be staggered back a bit. The monster circled Harry and looked at him, but paused, almost as if lost in thought.

Reflections of a past life went through the monster's mind. It being brought to life in a lab, it being forced to fight a quartet of Turtles and their human companion, it falling off into a stasis tube and being swept into the river, before it was revived by rats.

In an instant, it was brought out of his fragmented memories by Harry's fist impacting right into its face. Another punch backed the monster up. A third punch fully sprung it back to reality and a fourth one was blocked by a wall of magical energy that propelled Harry onto his back.

"Why are you attacking us?" demanded Harry but the monster just responded by once again breaking out into laughter and running forward, before it broke right through the windows of a building right across the way. Quickly, Harry followed it.

"Harry wait…" said Leo feebly but Harry leapt right through the busted window right after his adversary.

"We can't leave Harry alone with that thing, c'mon!" yelled Raph, rushing forward, Sais drawn, as the other three Turtles followed him right inside the factory, all crashing through the windows.

The sight they saw was Harry looking around and a second later, the monster dropped down from seemingly out of nowhere. Harry side stepped his opponent's attack, causing the monster to hit the ground hard. This dangerous adversary was not to be denied, as he sprung back up to a standing position before backing off. A chain was conjured and the monster wrapped the weapon around his arm, before it rushed Harry with the chain wrapped around but Harry just barely dodged the attack. Quickly, a two by four was levitated and then banished right at the monster, but the monster punched right through it, remaining on the attack.

"This is crazy, we just can't let Harry take on that thing by himself," said Mikey, as Harry dodged a chain enhanced punch, the hand of the monster illuminated in a deep blue shade that burned a hole through the wall once it connected after Harry ducked.

"From here there is no real way to tell its physical limitations, it might be a tough foe to put down, even if all five of us attack it at once," commented Don, as the chain was sliced off the arm of the monster but Harry's opponent was relentless on its assault.

"Leave it, if Harry gets in too much trouble, we'll jump in," said Leo. "I may be out of line saying this but Harry might be seeing another monster in place of the one he's going against."

"I see what you're getting at Leo," said Raph as Harry slid underneath the outstretched arms of his attacker before the monster was caught off balanced. "Harry has some frustrations he needs to work out but at the same time, if he gets in too much trouble, I'll be the first one to help."

The others nodded as the monster propelled himself at Harry but Harry dodged the attack. Quickly, Harry launched himself at his opponent, before he could properly turn around. A vicious punch impacted the monster in the chest. Another punch impacted as Harry flipped back, before the monster turned around. A vicious uppercut that would have waylaid most championship boxers staggered the monster.

"Go Harry, get him!" cheered the Turtles as Harry wound up his hand, concentrating, and summoning all the magic he could before his hand gave up a bright red light that forced the Turtles to shield their eyes as Harry planted his fist right in the face of the monster. The monster was launched back over half of the length of the warehouse from what was a equivalent of a high powered banishing charm.

Harry collapsed to his knees, a bit exhausted from using that much powerful wandless magic, as his brothers rushed forward to check on him.

"Harry, are you okay?" asked Raph as he crouched down right beside Harry, showing rare concern through his tough exterior.

"Fine Raph, thanks," responded Harry gruffly as he pulled himself up to a standing position, just barely avoiding collapsing back to the ground.

"Impressive, I didn't know you could do that," said Don.

"Neither did I for that matter," replied Harry with a weak, distorted smile as he looked down but a loud bellow erupted across the building as the monster had pulled himself to his feet, that attack managing to only enrage the beast.

"Yes, but old creepy's still alive," said Mikey grimly, as their opponent stalked them from the other side.

"I'm ending this right now!" yelled Harry and before anyone could say anything, Harry rushed forward, a surprising burst of adrenaline as he leapt high into the air. He brought his hands down onto the throat of his enemy and attempted to push back, in an attempt to snap the neck of his opponent but the monster shoved Harry off. Both foes circled each other and rushed in for the attack. Jets of high level magical energy met in the air, causing a loud rumble to echo throughout the entire industrial park.

"HARRY LOOK OUT!" yelled Leo suddenly as the silo from the outside had tipped over and was falling right through the windows. Harry saw it coming and at the last second, Harry instinctively pushed his opponent out of the way, just as the silo crashed right to the ground, kicking up large clouds of dusts and obscuring

"Harry!" yelled Mikey as the dust cleared but Don had grabbed Mikey around the arm, preventing him from moving him forward.

"Mikey, watch your step," cautioned Don and Mikey looked down below, as an infinite number of rats were below, released from the silo when it smashed through the floor and they all looked above, transfixed by the sight above it, which was Harry and his opponent slowly getting their feet, a top of a small section of floor, only supported by one rickety looking steel support beam.

"Whoa, its like rat central!" exclaimed Mikey as the sound of chattering rats could be heard throughout the dusty, demolished building and Harry pulled himself up, along with the monster.

"Harry that thing, in fact the entire building could collapse at any minute!" yelled Leo in an urgent voice. "We need to go, now, jump, forget that guy!"

The monster stood and motioned for Harry to step forward, but Harry turned slightly, not really taking his eyes off of his adversary and leapt across the sea of rodents. Harry landed firmly on the other side, just as the beam began to give way and the monster turned, before it launched himself forward, not quite making it. In a last ditch effort, the monster grabbed onto Harry, and attempted to pull him back. If it was go down, his prey was going to fall with him.

Raph rushed forward and grabbed Harry's arm, attempting to pull his brother back up but the force of the monster was too much for Raph to overcome, as Harry's feet slid back, mere centimeters from going forward, and Leo quickly grabbed Harry's other arm, with Don and Mikey grabbing onto Raph and Leo from behind, All four Turtles valiantly pulled, to prevent their brother from falling down but the monster was relentless, he would not let go, not for a second. However, with one last tug, the Turtles broke the grip of the monster and pulled Harry to safety.

The monster on the other end plummeted backwards right into the rats. An inhumane yell was silenced when the rats leapt on top of the monster. That foe was buried underneath a swarm of rats as it appeared to be sucked underneath right into oblivion as Leo, Don, Raph, Mikey, and Harry paused, looking down, verifying that their enemy had met its demise by thousands of rats.

"Ready to go home?" asked Harry after an uncomfortable moment of silence and the others nodded, before quickly making their way out of the building, before it came down on their heads.

As they walked closer to the Battle Shell, Mikey looked at his brothers with a grin on his face, before he held up his arm, showing off the bandanna from the forgotten stealth hunter game.

"Hey, it's been over an hour easily, hasn't it?" asked Mikey cheekily with a smug expression. "And I haven't lost the bandanna yet, I guess that makes me the stealiest most awesome ninja there ever…"

Mikey was cut off, when Raph removed the bandanna from his arm before it whipped it into Mikey's arm, causing him to wince from the sting the bandanna caused his arm.

"Stricken from the record I think due to a technicality, perhaps we should try this some other time," responded Don as Mikey opened his mouth to argue.

"Perhaps," agreed Harry reluctantly, as he was ready to return back to the Potter Residence. He still had some things that he had to do before he turned in for the evening.

Moments after the Battle Shell returned, a voice could be heard for anyone walking past the building where the Turtles and Harry had fought their mysterious foe. The monster stood before an entire army of transfixed rats.

"They have left, but I will haunt their nightmares for many days to come," declared the monster in a spooky voice, as the rats appeared to be hanging on his words. "I am the monster they can never escape and everything fears me."

The monster reached forward and picked up one of his rats, staring at it almost lovingly, in a twisted sort of way.

"Everything except for the rats, for I am the Rat King," concluded the monster before its evil laughter echoed throughout the entire industrial park.


	6. Chapter 6: Samurai Tourist

**Chapter Six: Samurai Tourist**

Harry walked into the bathroom, turning to the mirror but his reflection stared back at him with a sadistic grin and demonic glowing red eyes. Quickly, before Harry could move, his reflection reached his hands out of the mirror and wrapped them around Harry's throat. Harry attempted to push his enemy away, but it continued to throttle him, forcing Harry to gasp for breath.

"Do not fight it, you must take the necessary path to save them," hissed the mirror image, as Harry struggled to fight it off. "You have the power, but by not taking the necessary path, you will doom them to a slow, agonizing demise."

"No," replied Harry definitely as he attempted to push his enemy away but the scene quickly morphed into all of his friends and family huddled around, unable to move as a large gauntlet not unlike the one the Shredder used, illuminated in the same shade of green that the Killing Curse was known to swiped down at them. Harry attempted to rush over, but they seemed to get further and further away, and the next thing Harry knew, they were all on the ground, covered in blood, not moving, having been slain right before his very eyes.

"Failed once again, just as you've always failed," taunted the mirror image who had reappeared as Harry turned and Harry stepped forward, but the mirror image had vanished right in thin air before Harry could even get close enough to it.

Harry turned and the next thing he knew, he was falling right through a veil. On the other side, he saw a pair of cold, blue, lifeless eyes, just before he fell right into an indescribable atmosphere of pure terror, the word "failure" whispered in his ear repeatedly as he began his slow descent.

Harry sat up in bed, his eyes widened in absolute horror and as if turned out, he was not the same one. Right beside him, Ginny had also abruptly woke up as well, an equally wide eyed look etched on her face as she turned to Harry.

"You saw it to, didn't you?" asked Harry and Ginny nodded her head, looking about as confused as Harry was as she reached forward and grabbed Harry's hand.

"It was confusing, I've never seen anything so vivid in my life," whispered Ginny, as she looked up at Harry. "Do you have any idea what it means?"

"I have my ideas, but I don't know if I'm correct," replied Harry coolly, as he looked at Ginny for several more seconds, it was just a dream, a nightmare if that, brought on by stress most likely. "Don't worry Ginny, I don't think it has any meaning, it's just fragments, they don't even fit together, I'm sure if it's nothing."

"I hope you're right Harry," said Ginny, as she looked up at Harry, but his eyes held no clue to what he was thinking, it was always the blank, focused expression that he always held when training.

"I do too, Ginny," muttered Harry as he leaned forward, wrapping his arm around her, and kissed, her, an action that Ginny eagerly returned, more to get her mind of the horrific scenes she saw. "Let's try and get back to sleep, don't know how much we'll succeed, but we have to try."

"Suppose so Harry, night, love you," muttered Ginny sleepily, as she began to drift back into sleep in Harry's arms, uneasily, but with the reassurance that perhaps it was fact a dream.

"Love you too," said Harry before he fell back asleep, trying to push the visions that plagued him out of his mind, the word "failure" really eating a hole with him, but within time, Harry drifted back to sleep, the dream not plaguing him once again, with the belief that perhaps it was only a one time occurrence.

The next morning in the lair, Harry had decided to go down for some early morning practice, in a rather familiar surrounding that most of his training in life had taken place. His brothers had joined him for the first couple of hours, but after a while, Harry was left alone as they required a break. That was fine with Harry, as the amount of training he felt he had to undertake was something he did not recommend to anyone. Right now, Harry was battling a quartet of enchanted dummies, blind folded. The dummies threw spells at him every few seconds, it was random what direction the spells would come from and Harry needed to hone his skills, being able to block the attacks, without his line of sight and without magic.

A mild slicing spell was sent towards Harry, but Harry threw himself to the ground, rolling out of the way as the spell faded in mid air. Harry popped his head up but the same enchanted dummy sent another curse at him but Harry leapt out of the way, just barely avoiding a stunning spell as he was against another enchanted mannequin.

"Exactly how long has he been at it again?" asked Sirius, who was also down at the lair, interested in seeing what his godson was up to.

"About three and a half hours by my count," replied Don as he watched a set of arrows fired at Harry, who used his weapon to deflect them, before he leapt over them, but the dummy spun around and shot a jet of fire at Harry but Harry dodged it, as another one of his opponents fired another spell.

"Well, if anything else, those things are interesting, how Harry's enchanted them to attack him and no one else," remarked Sirius, as indeed it was a high level piece of magic, well beyond most that Sirius had ever seen in his life.

"Yes, that's the problem, Harry's been working himself a lot recently and setting up something like that for training does seem to be a bit intense," said Leo.

"Coming from you, considering how seriously you take your training, that says something," remarked Raph before he watched Harry, who just barely avoided two of the dummies attacking him at the same time and the bolts of magical energy disappeared in mid air. "Ooh that was a close shot; I'm surprised Harry avoided that one."

"So, Harry is taking his training more seriously, but hasn't he always?" asked Mikey. "Even when he was seven years old, he still tried to put the most work into his training, tried to hang with us, despite he was way too young to last too long. I think Harry knows his limits better than anyone else, but it does seem he's trying to push those limits a bit, doesn't it?"

The others nodded, as they continued to watch Harry for a couple more minutes, as he dodged some more attacks, before he clapped his hands, cancelling both of the spells, before he removed his blindfold and stepped away.

"That could have gone better," said Harry in a critical tone of voice, as he looked at the others.

"Now I don't know much about what you were doing, but from what I saw, it looked great," said Sirius and the others gave encouraging nods, but Harry obviously was not convinced of the fact that he actually did well.

"I did fine, but I can always do better," replied Harry. "There were some flaws, I need to be perfect."

"Yes, perfect, well what's there left to shoot for when you become perfect, Harry?" demanded Raph.

"I'll worry about that when the time comes," said Harry shortly, as he turned slightly, preparing to think about how to better his strategy for his next training run, which he planned to go for another run through in a few moments.

"My sons, prepare yourselves, we have some company arriving shortly," said Master Splinter, as he walked into the room, leaning on his walking stick as he leaned forward, to look forward and seconds later, the lair filled with a large vortex of blue, nearly blinding, light, as a portal opened up, as the Turtles, Harry, and Sirius stepped forward to investigate and at that moment, the form of their samurai rabbit friend, Miyamoto Usagi, emerged from the portal, to face the group before him.

"Usagi!" exclaimed the Turtles in unison, as Harry nodded politely in the background, as Usagi watched forward and stepped to the side to reveal the form of the gluttonous rhino bounty hunter and friend of Usagi, Gennosuke.

"Greetings Turtles," said Gen as he looked at the group.

"And Gen," replied Raph in a slightly irritated tone of voice.

"I must say, after your Christmas festivities, I was willing to see more of this world, no doubt many financial opportunities can be had in this strange land," remarked Gen with a grunt, a greedy look in his eyes. "But right now I need to eat, so where do you keep the food around this place anyway?"

"As Gennosuke said, in his own unique way, your Christmas celebration was just a mere taste and it might be an interesting cultural experience to see more of your world," inputted Usagi.

"Did you come here by way of the Battle Nexus?" asked Leo.

"No, Leonardo-San, a friend of my was able to perform a spell to open a portal and allow myself entry here, without making the triple through the Battle Nexus, making it a much more convenient journey," answered Usagi as the others nodded.

"This evening may be as good of a time as any to show our guests the sights of the city," suggested Master Splinter to the group. "But in the mean time, now should be an ideal opportunity to allow them to settle in, as no doubt their journey was a difficult one."

"Yes, settle in, get some grub, it's all good," agreed Gen in a gluttonous voice, as he looked around.

"Well, I need to be going, what time should I tell the others to expect you back home, Harry?" asked Sirius as he turned to Harry.

"Don't know, no sooner than later this evening, perhaps early tomorrow morning, providing that something doesn't come up," replied Harry with a shrug.

"Okay, will do Harry," responded Sirius as he turned. "Good bye everyone, see you soon."

Everyone waved Sirius, as he went off to do whatever he pleased. Harry did not expect for his godfather to stick around very long in one place, after all he had his freedom, he no longer had to be a fugitive of the law, he did not have to remain in hiding. Harry decided it might be a good opportunity to join the others when they gave their guests the tour of the city. After all, he could use a night to get out for a little bit with friends and family.

Later that evening, under the cover of darkness, Harry, slightly disguised due to the status of him being technically deceased in the Wizarding World, stuck his head out of a manhole, as he slid the cover off, to see that no one untrustworthy. When Harry had confirmed that the coast was in fact clear, he slid the manhole cover off and beckoned for the others to join them. One by one, Raph, Don, Mikey, Leo, Usagi, and Gen evacuated the manhole, the cover slid back on as they made their way into the city.

"Gentlemen, welcome to the night light, shall we explore the town," remarked Mikey, as they walked into the city. New York was truly the city that never slept, as many were still out and about.

They moved on, as it turned out, there was a baseball game going on this evening. Due to the unique appearances of most of the individuals involved, they could not get in easily, but there was an area on a mounted hill, where they could watch the game from afar.

"So exactly how does this strange pastime work?" asked Usagi with mild interest as he watched the game.

"Well, two teams of players, many of them who are overplayed, play for nine innings," explained Mikey. "One team is at bat and the other is in the field, they switch when one team strikes out three times. Whoever gets the most runs after the ninth inning wins, it's kind of hard to explain."

"And how does one receive one of these runs?" prompted Usagi.

"Well, you take a small wooden object called a baseball bat, and swing it, but you have to hit it, otherwise it's a strike," commented Raph, miming hitting a baseball with a baseball bat.

"Ah, it's just like fighting an army of Neko ninjas, where you take your katana and…" stated Gen as he removed his katana and began swinging it around wildly, but Leo and Don had stopped him before he had gotten too out of control, to attract too much unwanted attention.

"Yeah, something like that," said Leo slowly, as Gen put his katana away and they remained for a few more moments, before Harry looked around quite anxiously. It was obvious they had arrived rather late in the game and it was wrapping up, no doubt there was going to be many people out and about within a matter of moments.

"We need to keep moving, game's going to be over soon," muttered Harry and the others got Harry's mention, as they walked off but it was not all that much of a disappointment all things considered. There was so much more to see and do, even at night and as quickly as they came, the group had moved off, continuing their tour of New York for the next several hours, seeing many historical landmarks on their way, before they climbed to the roof top at the end of the evening, to see an overview of the sit.

Even though he had lived there most of his life, Harry still was amazed, as when taking away the fairly large amount of criminal activity that tended to plague the city on most occasions, it was still the greatest city on Earth as far as Harry and many others were concerned. Indeed, it was a place that the Boy-Who-Lived was proud to call his home.

"So how does the Tortuga Brothers Big Apple tour rate so far, my samurai friends?" asked Mikey.

"I must say your city is so vibrant and bright, a contrast to our home if I may say so myself," remarked Usagi, as he looked over in the city, a bit impressed and a bit overwhelmed if the truth would be told.

"Your city is so big and shiny, that's a lot of buildings, just imagine all of the torches it would take to light them all," responded Gen as he looked out in the city with wide eyes. "All those people, all the money to be had, it's like paradise."

"Yes, well, as good as your city is, it does make me long for the long open meadows of home, isn't that right, Gennosuke?" asked Usagi but Gen looked on greedily, it was quite obvious that this place was right up his alley. "Uh Gen?"

"Yes, yes, of course," replied the rhino, waving off his friend's comments, snapping out of the dreams of acquiring untold of wealth in this strange and mysterious land.

"It's best we get going, it's been a long night," yawned Leo, as the others nodded to agree, as they one by one climbed down from the rooftops, making their way back down to the sewers, to get some rest. Harry joined them, it was a much shorter trip then to the Potter Residence after all and in his current state of fatigue, it would be ill advised to apparate. He would get a few hours of sleep, do a bit of light training, and then bid everyone farewell before he departed back home.

It was early that next morning and Harry had already been training for several hours, he had began in the crack of dawn and had gotten involved in his training, the desire to become better, to never fail anyone again drove him to continue, even though he was beginning to become a bit fatigued and weary. Still, Harry refused to believe that he could afford to give up, he wanted to get a good hour or more of training in before everyone else had gotten out of bed.

"It's been said a weapon can be ineffective in the hands of an under trained warrior, but I wonder what could be said about how effective it could be in an over trained one," remarked a voice, and Harry spun around, to see that Usagi was standing there. "Ah, Harry-san, I see your reflexes have not faltered since your battle with Drako's dark assassins in the Battle Nexus."

"You're up rather early Usagi-san," replied Harry casually.

"I could say the same thing about you," responded Usagi with a casual nod, as the samurai rabbit looked at Harry. "Since we're both up, shall we spar?"

Harry nodded, he was always up for a challenge and from what he observed, the samurai rabbit seemed to be a challenge, as he was too accustomed with the fighting styles of his brothers, so he needed something different. Usagi removed his katana as Harry removed his weapon. They circled each other, before Harry swung his weapon upwards, but Usagi quickly dodged and Harry just barely turned around, blocking Usagi's blow.

"Don't hold anything back," muttered Harry, as he crouched down, before he attempted to lightly jab forward, but Usagi blocked the attack. Another clang together as the two warriors stared down, before Harry attempted another attack but Usagi casually avoided the attempted attack and swept Harry's leg out from underneath him. Harry sprang up to his feet and attempted to go for the attack but once again Usagi spun around, avoiding the attack, as Harry became frustrated, as the samurai seemed to be keeping him off balance with mostly defensive attacks, as the weapons clanged together, with both staring each other down.

"Your technique is good, but you put too much into each attack, it is causing you to slip up, a bit of ambition is good, but it's causing you to overreach yourself, making your attempts to defend yourself sloppy," replied Usagi but Harry attempted to attack but Usagi blocked it once again. "It would be an ideal solution for you not to strive for perfection, because it only leads to frustration and the frustration will eventually lead to sloppiness that will leave you open to a deadly attack."

Harry paused and he knew exactly what was going on right now.

"Master Splinter put you up to this, didn't he?" asked Harry as he attempted to move forward but Usagi blocked the attack once again, as he continued to circle his sparring partner.

"Perhaps, but judging by your demeanor, especially when you think no one is looking, it is obvious even to someone who has only met you a handful of times that something is amiss," replied Usagi as he blocked another shot. "Past failures can be a tough mistress to overcome, especially when you think if you've been a bit better, a bit more skilled, perhaps you would have saved them in time, every waking moment you think about what you did not do and what you should have done."

"No disrespect meant, Usagi, but how would you know what's going through my mind?" asked Harry as he attempted to sneak another shot past his opponent but Usagi blocked the shot again.

"My master was slain right before my very eyes, by a vile assassin," said Usagi calmly as he blocked the assault. "It's not something I talk about much, yet I was there but I froze, and the next thing I knew, he was dead."

A moment of uncomfortable silence, which was promptly broken when Mikey rushed out of his room, followed by the other three Turtles and Master Splinter.

"Guys, Gen's gone!" exclaimed Mikey and the others responded by gasping in horror at the rhino being out alone in the big city.

In an alleyway downtown, another portal opened and exiting it was an assassin dressed in a blue cloak that resembled a humanoid warthog exiting the portal, stepping in the alley way and looking around.

"My lord, I have traced the sorcerer's spell, they cannot be far now," remarked the assassin as he looked into a scroll and a window of sorts opened on it, to reveal the sinister form of one of Miyamoto Usagi's dangerous enemies, the villainous giant snake called Lord Hebi.

"Excellent work Kojima, the Assassins' Guild once again does not disappoint on the quality of their employees," replied Hebi in a hiss, as he looked at the warthog assassin very intently. "Remember, bring me the heads of Usagi, the bounty hunter, and the Kame warrior known as Leonardo. They shall pay for their meddling in our previous meeting."

"As you wish, Lord Hebi," responded Kojima, as he quietly snuck off, sniffing at the air, attempting to pick up the scent of his pray, secure in the knowledge that they could not be far from his current location.

As they went out into the city, on the rooftops, Usagi turned to the Turtles and Harry.

"Gennosuke could not have gotten too far but I doubt there is much need for concern, after all, he is able to take care of himself should a situation arise," remarked Usagi, but the others shook their heads in disagreement.

"Usagi, we're extremely difficult, this isn't like your world, humanoid animals are not exactly the norm, " replied Leo. "We kind of stick out in a crowd, that's why we had to visit the city at night, people tend to run for cover when they see our unique appearance."

"And that's how we find Gen, just follow the sound of the shrieks," inputted Mikey as he squinted his eyes to look out in the city. "Any of you have any luck yet?"

"No, but I suspect he can't be far, after all, a large talking rhino is not exactly common, even in New York," remarked Raph as he continued to look out in the city. "Nothing so far."

"Keep looking," prompted Leo as a loud shriek was heard from inside the city as they looked down in absolute horror, to see a crowd of horrified populace back off from Gen as he was down on the other end of the city. "Oh great, we would have to have a crowd."

"I'll get him shall I," offered Don and Leo turned to him, with a nod, before he waved him over.

"Be discrete about it, we'll set up a diversion, but you need to get him out of there before he causes even more of a disturbance that there already is," cautioned Leo and Don nodded, before he crept off into the shadows, to discretely make his down to deal with the situation before it got rather ugly.

"I said I had gold," protested Gen as the shopkeeper ran off in absolute terror, as a group had closed in to get a quicker look and at that time, a police officer walked in.

"Back everyone," ordered the officer crisply before he turned to Gen, withdrawing his gun and pointing it at the large rhino samurai. "And you, whoever you are, you better come along quietly, come on, put your hands in the air where I can see, I have to take you in."

Gen looked over the officer with amusement, taking in his appearance, before he snorted right at him.

"And what are you supposed to be little man, one of the shogun's guards?" demanded Gen, folding his arms, as he stared at the officer, but the officer did not back off.

"Hands in the air and come quietly," repeated the officer but a loud bang echoed from the alleyway off to the side.

Mikey was hanging from the side of a building on a ladder, as Raph whacked his Sai against a dumpster, causing a rattling sound to echo throughout the entire city.

"Help me, someone help me," shrieked Mikey in a shrill girly voice, as Raph continued to whack his weapon off the dumpster in an attempt to get the attention away from Gen. "There's a short ugly bald guy attacking me, he's really ugly, help, someone save me from his ugliness."

"You are such a mutant," grumbled Raph as he looked at his brother in disgust, as footsteps indicated that the officer was rushing down the alley way, to investigate the source of the disturbance, as Raph climbed up behind Mikey, getting out of sight before the officer had made his way down the alley way, giving Don the diversionary tactic that he needed, sticking to the shadows, and grabbing Gen, before pulling him into the next alley way.

"What the…" stated Gen as he turned around, to see Don, Bo Staff drawn and staring down the rhino. "Oh it's you."

"What were you thinking going out in the middle of the day?" asked Don. "Surely you would have realized that there was a reason why we went out at night. Now, I'm taking you back to the lair, before any more damage is done, the others should join us soon."

Gen just shrugged, he had seen enough of the city for now anyway, as he followed Don back towards the sewers, as Harry watched from above, ready to give them a warning should someone be following them.

"Looks like the coast is clear," muttered Harry as he turned to the others, but at that moment, the smoke bomb dropped on the floor, cloaking them in a cloud of darkness. Harry groped around in the smoke, attempting to push it away with his magic, as Raph and Mikey pulled themselves up, coughing as the smoke engulfed the area around them.

"What's with all this smoke?" grunted Raph, as the smoke cleared as the form of Kojima appeared from the smoke, to face Usagi, Leo, Harry, Raph, and Mikey.

"Kojima!" exclaimed Usagi, as he withdrew his katana, to face off against the infamous assassin.

"Ah, Miyamoto Usagi and the Kame Ninja I presume," remarked Kojima, before he turned to the others. "Forgive the rudeness, but I've only come for these two."

Kojima quickly flicked a set of bombs on the roof, right at the feet of Raph and Mikey.

"GUYS, MOVE!" yelled Leo urgently, but it was too late, as the roof had crumbled out from underneath Mikey and Raph, causing them to fall into the factory below, as Kojima looked at them.

"Now is the matter of collecting the gold that Lord Hebi has promised me," said Kojima. "I'll deal with the bounty hunter later. He's the list, along with Lord Noriyuki."

"Hebi, he's hired the Assassins' Guild!" exclaimed Usagi in a horrified tone of voice.

"None other," replied Kojima with a bow, as he removed a Kusari-Gama, stalking his prey with a cold, calculating look etched upon his face.

"Tread lightly, Kojima is one of the most deadly and feared assassins, in my universe, a true master of weapons," said Usagi slowly as Kojima whipped his chain off the ground but Usagi just barely managed to leap out of the way, but Kojima remained on the attack, before he flung a dagger at Leo, knocking his katanas out of his hand and Usagi was knocked out of commission for the time being by a pair of expertly flung shuriken. Harry rushed forward and aimed a kick at his opponent, but Kojima expertly caught Harry's foot, before he gave Harry a slight push backwards, staggering the Boy-Who-Lived. Harry quickly pulled himself right back to his feet, before Kojima struck him right in the chest with a wooden staff. A loud crack echoed throughout the downtown area and Harry fell backwards, over the side of the building.

"No!" yelled Leo in a horrified voice as he saw his youngest brother plunge over the side of the building, to the pavement below, but Kojima whipped his chain, wrapping it around Leo's arms and gave a yank, pulling Leo forward, right into a vicious punch. Leo managed to twist and pull himself free, but Kojima swung the sickle end of the Kusari-Gama down. Quickly Leo, used his katana to block the attack, but Kojima was relentless, swinging the sickle, snapping Leo's sword. Kojima gave Leo a thunderous blow to the back of the neck and Leo was dropped down to the ground.

"Now this ends, it's a shame, I expected more of a challenge than this," grunted Kojima, as he raised his staff, a blade protruding out, as he prepared to jam it right into Leo's throat.

Down below, Raph shook off the cobwebs, before he quickly pushed a piece of rubble that was over the top of Mikey's chest.

"Come on Mikey, rise and shine, they need our help, we need to get back up there," prompted Raph as he helped his brother up to his feet, Mikey wincing as he rose to his feet.

"I love being a turtle and all that, but that hurt like hell," grumbled Mikey, as he took a few tentative steps forward, a bit sore from the fall he took.

"Well, you're luck that your shell's as thick as your skull," commented Raph. "Now come on."

Usagi rushed over, and blocked the attempt of the assassin to slit Leo's throat with his katana. The rabbit strained to push Kojima backwards, but Kojima threw a powder at the ground, blinding Usagi temporarily, before Kojima propelled himself into the air. The punch came down right on the top Usagi's head, knocking him down and Kojima raised the blade, standing on Leo's chest to prevent him from rising up to his feet, but a pair of shuriken flung out of nowhere, sticking into Kojima's staff. The shuriken blew up, causing Kojima to stagger backwards.

As the warthog assassin turned around, Harry's foot was planted firmly in his face, backing him off. Another kick as Kojima was staggered back but Kojima grabbed Harry and flipped him to the ground. Harry dropped to the ground as Kojima raised his arms in victory.

"Stay down little warrior, you failed them, I always win," taunted Kojima and Harry's eyes narrowed angrily behind Kojima's back at the word "failed" "No one can stop me, I am the greatest warrior that ever lived I am Ko…"

Kojima never finished his speech as Harry sprung up, almost as if an unexplainable darkness had rose up within him for the briefest second, blade extended and slashed right at the back of the warthog's neck. The assassin stood before he thumped right to the ground, as Harry pulled his blade up, blood dripping from it, as the motionless form of Kojima laid right at his feet. Harry was astonished at the drastic step he took to defeat the dangerous assassin, but at the same time, he reasoned that it was necessary, as Kojima would have killed him, had the situation been reversed.

"Let's go," said Harry, as Usagi and Leo lifted up the form of Kojima, before dragging him back to the lair, both giving uneasy looks towards Harry, but nothing was said, as Raph and Mikey joined them, before they all headed back to the lair.

At the lair, the portal was opened, allowing Usagi and Gen to return back home, with Gen dragging the limp form of Kojima behind him.

"This is great, I bet there is a hefty price on this assassin's head, imagine the gold I'll collect when I turn his body in," grunted Gen as he dragged Kojima.

"Yes, it is a shame our trip needs to be cut rather short, but this is a nice place to visit, but living here is another matter entirely," added Usagi, with a bow towards the Turtles, Master Splinter, and Harry, who stood in the shadows slightly, an unreadable expression on his face.

"But perhaps someday I may have to make a return trip," commented Gen. "I've heard of a place called Las Vegas, that sounds like a place that may be right up my alley."

"Yeah, well don't call us, we'll call you," remarked Mikey as he shooed Gen through the portal as Usagi turned to Harry.

"Also, Harry, farewell and remember, do not let your need to achieve perfection consume you, otherwise you'll head down a dangerous path that you

"I appreciate your advice, but I know what I need to do," said Harry in a testy tone of voice, before he turned to the others. "I really need to get home anyway, I'm well past due to arrive, if you know where to find me."

Without another word, Harry walked off, leaving the others in the lair.

"This is about as far as the issue can be pressed at this moment, I had feared the defeat at the hands of Lord Voldemort, coupled with the deaths of Daphne and Theodore had pushed Harry to the edge, but it will long journey for Harry to get back to normal, one that he can only make on his own," concluded Master Splinter in a tired voice, as he leaned on his walking stick, as they said their good byes, before the pair of samurais disappeared through the portal.

Just several hours later, Harry stood in the bathroom of the Potter Residence, staring at his own reflection, his face contorting.

"You truly are taunting me more than Voldemort, Shredder, or anyone else ever has," muttered Harry, as he stared down his own reflection in the mirror. "I won't let you defeat me, I'll never become that, no matter what, no chance in hell."

"Harry?" asked Ginny as she knocked on the door.

"I'm coming Ginny," replied Harry as he exited the bathroom, and Ginny looked him over, a concerned expression on her face, Harry obviously had something on his mind, through the bond, Ginny could sense a bit of helplessness, something that was a foreign concept for Harry.

"Is there something wrong Harry?" asked Ginny in a concerned tone of voice but Harry just shook his head, but Ginny could tell that something was bothering Harry. "You know you can talk to me, love."

"I know Ginny and I will if I feel I need to," replied Harry as he grabbed her hand. "Right now everything's fine, more than fine as I have a date tonight with the most beautiful girl in the world."

"Still Harry, the same Harry I'll always loved and will love," muttered Ginny, as Harry's eyes seemed to still light up at the prospect of spending time with her, no matter how much turmoil he went through and Ginny felt the same way. "Shall we go then, Harry."

"Of course Ginny," replied Harry with a smile, the first genuine one that Ginny had seen in a while, but then again, it was time they went out without anyone else to spend some time alone, but Ginny could see it, one day Harry would have to return to face him and while she'd be with him one hundred percent of the way, Ginny was not exactly looking forward to.


	7. Chapter 7: Grudge Match

**Chapter Seven: Grudge Match**

In the Kitchen at the Potter Residence, Hermione and Hailey were sitting around in the latter part of the evening, as Lily had joined them, looking really weary.

"Nothing again?" asked Hermione.

"No, thought this time was it, but it turned out to be an abandoned temple, that a cult practiced dark magic in Albania in the 1960s, a couple of dangerous artifacts were there, but no Horcrux," replied Lily. "We thought for sure it would be in Albania, as Voldemort did spend all those years in exile but every lead over there has turned up empty."

"So, Harry really doesn't know that you're still trying to find the Horcruxes Mum?" asked Hailey.

"No, but I figure I might want to complete the set, only two more Horcruxes to go after all and should Harry change his mind…" stated Lily before she shook her head. "He's gone out, pretending that nothing's out of the ordinary, after what happened with Voldemort, but I can see it, he blames himself for Voldemort winning and taking over."

"I know but the most frustrating thing is it's almost like trying to talk to that wall over there, Harry won't admit anything is wrong, yet, he's been training at least twice as hard then before," remarked Hermione in a tense voice. "I don't know what to do, Harry's pushed himself hard before, but this a whole another level."

"Harry's like me, a bit too much come at times for his or anyone else's own good," muttered Lily, more to herself than to her daughter and Hermione. "Driven, wanting to be the best, absolutely hates to fail at anything, and when he falls, he falls harder than anyone else…"

"Harry will come around, he has to," said Hailey in a hopeful voice, but in the back of her mind, the only way her brother was going to ever come around was to face off against Voldemort once more but right now, that might not be the best thing right now.

Lily sighed, she was thinking back to the summer before her seventh year, right after her parents were murdered by Bellatrix Lestrange and when Petunia vowed to never speak to her again, saying that it was Lily's fault they were dead. For months, she was a bit moody, a bit irritable, and attempted to shut everyone out, while training as hard as she could in any form of magic. Her friends had tried to help her, but she had just claimed that everything was find, shutting them out at times, it was only with time that she managed to pull herself and return to normal.

"I know you two want to help Harry, and I do too, but Harry's only going to work this out on his own," remarked Lily. "It's just a string of things that happened over the past six years that have come to a head, but Harry will get better, he'll figure out what is best for him."

"Do you think he'll ever decide to face Voldemort again, Mum?" asked Hailey.

"I don't know," said Lily and truly she had no insight into Harry's mind. "Whatever he does decide to do, Harry should only do the right thing for him and not for the Wizarding World."

"Seems to me that deep down Harry's gotten the idea that what's best for him as best for the Wizarding World," remarked Hermione. "Not exactly the healthiest thing to have in mind, but that's Harry and to a lesser extent Ginny as well."

"Yes, I've noticed that Ginny is willing to take Harry's word at face value more easily, that everything's fine, because let's face it, she spends a lot more time with Harry, so maybe she knows something more than we don't," commented Hailey. "Still, she'd be giving us an earful if she heard us suggesting the fact that Harry might go back eventually, between Harry getting poisoned by Malfoy and the defeat by Voldemort…"

"I know, what ever happen, happens," said Lily, who did not wish to discuss the matter any further, as Harry would recover from the traumatic event that he went through much like she did all those years ago. It would just take time and then Harry could get on with the rest of his life, whether or not he decided to go up against Voldemort or not.

On the roof top, Don swung his Bo Staff right at Harry but Harry efficiently dodged down, before he swept Don's legs out from underneath him. The brainy turtle dropped to the ground, before Raph charged Harry but Harry blocked his Sais, a determined look on his face, before he forced Raph backwards. Leo rushed in and managed to knock Harry's weapon out of his hand. Quickly, Harry launched himself over Leo and quickly, Harry flung a shuriken, before he knocked one of Leo's katanas out of his hands. Another shuriken and Leo was disarmed, as Harry leapt up, knocking Leo right onto his shell with a kick. Harry turned around, nodding as the Turtles rose to their feet, looking a bit ragged.

"Remember Harry, do not overexert yourself," cautioned Master Splinter, as he watched down but Harry gave a courtesy nod, before he turned to his brothers, standing in a battle stance, as he faced off against them once again.

"Come on, let's go again, throw at me everything you got, hold nothing back, I'm not fragile you know," challenged Harry in an intense voice as Raph charged Harry, Sais drawn but Harry dodged, before he quickly disarmed Raph and flipped him to the ground. "Sloppy, really, that move might have worked when I was eight, Raph, but you need to do better than that."

Don and Leo attempted to take Harry down from easier side but Harry effortlessly rolled out of the way, causing their weapons to clang together. Quickly, Harry disarmed them with a pair of kicks, before he somersaulted over them. An uppercut leveled Don, before Leo attempted to grab Harry but Harry sent him flying. Leo skidded halfway across the roof top, before he came to a stop and Master Splinter rose to his feet, with a clap of his hands to gain the attention of his students.

"That shall be sufficient for today, for all of you," said Master Splinter and that moment, Harry stepped back, to allow his brothers to get to his feet.

"Something was missing, the four of you should be attacking me, throw everything that you have next time," demanded Harry, rather disappointed as his brothers seemed to be slacking ever since the Shredder's death, almost like they were taking it easy without the constant threat of one of their most dangerous enemies and constant battles with Foot Ninjas to worry about.

"Hey, don't blame us, Harry," responded Leo in a defensive tone of voice. "Mikey appears to have slipped off when we weren't looking."

"Again?" demanded Harry. "That's the third practice he's skived off."

"Yes, I shall be having a chat with Michelangelo myself Harry, but it is really nothing you need to concern yourself with," commented Master Splinter and Harry responded with a bow, but the irritation was obvious in the seventeen year old wizard's face, before Splinter turned to the others. "Raphael, Donatello, go locate your brother."

Raph and Don walked off, while Harry just stood back in the shadows, an unreadable expression on his face, as Leo and Splinter stood, awaiting the return of the others.

A couple of buildings down, Mikey sat in the ledge, playing a hand held video game. Eagerly, the turtle pressed button after button, as he blasted the enemies he was fighting against, focused on his game.

"Come on, come on, just a few more hundred points," muttered Mikey in an excited voice, but at that moment, a hand reached out and pulled the video game out of his hand, before it was shut off. "Hey, I was just going to get high score…ow!"

Raph had reached down and had pulled Mikey up by the bandanna before he dragged off his younger sibling, with Don standing behind him, holding the video game.

"Watch the bandanna Raph!" whined Mikey, as Raph continued to drag him off.

"It's lucky that I'm only pulling you by the bandanna Mikey," replied Raph in an agitated voice, as he dragged Mikey right in front of Harry, Master Splinter, and Leo, all who did not look all that pleased about the lack of ambition that the youngest of the Turtles was achieving.

"Mikey, you snuck off again, that's the third time this week," chastised Leo as Harry just glared at Mikey, which said more than any words he could off.

"Michelangelo, you must take your training seriously," lectured Master Splinter in a stern voice. "Your ninjitsu skills are a tool and much like any tool, they must be constantly sharpened, otherwise they will dull and thus will be ineffective against any adversaries you battle. The only way to do so is to train."

"Come on Master Splinter, I doubt I need much training after all I'm a…" stated Mikey but Raph stuck his hand up right in front of Mikey's face, as he saw what was coming up from him a mile away.

"Don't you dare say it Mikey," grumbled Raph in an irritated voice but Mikey just responded with a grin, before he proceeded to continue.

"Battle Nexus Champion!" cheered Mikey. "Don't forget that?"

"It's kind of hard to, given the fact you remind us at every blasted opportunity you have," said Raph

"Yes that in addition to the fact you keep the trophy on top of the television," added Don with a similar look of irritation on his face. "It's a wonder that you don't wear it around your neck everywhere you go."

"Er, I tried, the chain kept breaking," admitted Mikey sheepishly but Master Splinter had rounded on his second youngest son.

"The point is that you should approach your achievements with humility, no matter how great they are," lectured Master Splinter. "Far greater warriors than yourself have been caught up in their own hype, their own belief that they were better than they truly word and their own pride was their downfall. I highly hope that does not happen to you, Michelangelo, but at the current rate you are going, you may fall. That is why you must keep on the path, remain to train, no matter how many honors you achieve."

"Yes, all of those warriors who fell may be great, but I have one thing they didn't," scoffed Mikey. "The fact that they…"

Mikey was suddenly struck silent as Harry looked at him with a serious expression on his face.

"Thank you Harry," said Raph graciously, before he turned to the silenced Mikey, who opened and closed his mouth, absolutely irritated at his current inability to speak. "Listen Mikey, you won the tournament, right, but the only reason you won was because sheer dumb luck, a great emphasis on the dumb part."

"I'm going to remove the silencing charm on you Mikey, I hope you've learned your lesson," replied Harry.

"Ah, Harry, can't we keep him like this?" asked Don but Harry shook his head, as he calmly flicked his wrist, removing the charm from Mikey.

"Now, Harry, really is that any way to treat a Battle Nexus Champion," said Mikey in a hurt voice but at that moment, a portal opened right in front of him. At that moment, a very familiar figure sprung from the portal, rushing right at Mikey. A large purple skinned alien with a blond mustache and blond hair with a balding spot on top knocked Mikey down to the ground.

Mikey looked up, seeing his large and imposing figure, the same individual that he scored a victory over in the final round of the Battle Nexus Tournament.

"Woah, Kluh?" questioned Mikey and the turtle gulped as the large warrior stood over him, spear drawn right near his throat, a sadistic glint in the warrior's eyes, as he made it perfectly clear that he could destroy Mikey any time he wished.

"Hang on Mikey!" yelled Raph, as he rushed forward, with Leo, Don, Harry, and Master Splinter also rushing over before Kluh did some serious damage to their annoying, but somewhat loveable, family member, but the portal remained open, and several other purple skinned aliens exited the portal, standing in front of the remaining three Turtles, Master Splinter, and Harry. Splinter turned the oldest of the aliens.

"What is the meaning of this?" demanded Splinter. "This is not allowed…"

"Tear him apart, Kluh," growled the older alien and Kluh stalked Mikey, as the others did battle with the other aliens, but they could not fight back.

"To your feet, little turtle, so I can kill you properly!" thundered Kluh as attempted to gut Mikey with the weapon but Mikey rolled out of the way. Kluh plunged a hole through the roof where he stood but he quickly removed his weapon from the roof and swung it towards Mikey, but it was stopped by some invisible force.

"Halt, remain where you are, or you will charged with violating Battle Nexus law," warned a voice and the spectral form of the official of the Battle Nexus, the Gyoiji appeared, its essence apparently reformed after the Ultimate Drako mess.

"On what grounds?" growled the eldest alien, looking at the Gyoiji with absolute disdain in its eyes.

"The Daimyo has clearly stated that the competition will take place in three days, no sooner, and this attack is an attempt to skew the odds in your favor," answered the Gyoiji. "The Daimyo will not stand for this, I can assure you."

"Wait a second, competition?" asked Master Splinter, as he looked at the Gyoiji. "I am to understanding this means what I think it means…"

"Due to the unique circumstances surrounding the final of the previous Battle Nexus Championship Tournament, after much delegation, a battle by ordained combat has been set for three days from now," explained the Gyoiji. "Or to put things in third Earth vernacular, a rematch."

"Does that mean what I think it means?" asked Raph.

"Oh I think it does," added Leo with a nod, as he looked over towards Mikey, who looked a bit befuddled at what was going on around him.

"What, what's going on, someone tell me?" inquired Mikey, but something told me he was not going to like where this was going.

"You're returning to the Battle Nexus Mikey, to fight Kluh," elaborated Don and Mikey gulped, in horror at the prospect that was set before him. "Man, I'd really hate to be in your shell right now, bro."

"Yes in three days, the match that will settle the matter of whether or not the last Battle Nexus Tournament was won fairly will take place, so prepare yourselves warriors and any attempted sabotage prior to the tournament will be taken as a breach of the protocols of the Battle Nexus and will be punished as such," warned the Gyoiji and the eldest alien made a noise of disdain. "Yes, I am well aware of your disdain for Battle Nexus protocol, Ammag, but that the Daimyo's word on the matter. You are to report to the Battle Nexus in three days time. And Ammag, I would highly suggest you take you son and the rest of your warriors far from this dimension."

Ammag, grunted, before he waved his warriors over but Kluh reached over and ripped a section of the roof off with his bare hand, before he turned to Mikey.

"In three days, this will be you," threatened Kluh, as he crushed the concrete in his hand, reducing it to nothing but dust, before the off worlders vanished as quickly as they appeared and Mikey had an absolutely petrified look on his face.

"Wait, I have to go back to the Battle Nexus, and fight him, fight that eight foot tall guy who wants to kick my shell in for accidentally talking him out and making him look like a fool in the last tournament," said Mikey frantically.

"Looks that way to me, Mikey," responded Raph with a smirk. "Going to be an interesting experience, for everyone, both you fighting and us watching."

"Yes, Mikey, but surely the Battle Nexus champion can handle Kluh no problem whatsoever," added Leo.

"No, are you insane, he'll kill me!" exclaimed Mikey. "Guys, you'll help me right, you know train, I've been slacking off lately, out of practice, but you'll help me, right?"

"Mikey, you were just going on not too long ago about you didn't need training, because you were the Battle Nexus Champion," commented Don lightly, as both Raph and Leo nodded in agreement and Mikey became absolutely frantic as his brothers seemed to really enjoy his discomfort at the moment.

"Come on guys," begged Mikey as he turned to Master Splinter with a hopeful look on his face. "Master Splinter, you'll train me right, please tell me you'll help me prepare for this rematch."

"You know training does sound like a good idea, my son, but I'm more in the mood to play video games or perhaps read some comic books," said Splinter, hoping that his son was learn a lesson of humility for trumping his Battle Nexus triumph at every opportunity. "Wait, I know what would be great, to have a large pizza right now. Yes, in fact, pizza sounds like it would be good now, with pepperoni and lots of karma."

With that Master Splinter, Leo, Raph, and Don walked off, leaving Mikey by himself to freak out at the battle at hand but Harry stepped forward from the shadows, having just hung back the entire time.

"I suppose someone better help you so you don't make an idiot out of yourself," stated Harry coolly and Mikey's hopes rose.

"You mean you'll help me train, Harry?" asked Mikey hopefully and Harry nodded.

"Still, don't thank me just yet, there's a lot of work that needs to be done to get you ready for this battle," said Harry in a serious voice.

Three days later, Mikey walked to the alleyway, followed by Harry. Don, Raph, Leo, and Splinter were already there and Mikey looked up with them, looking a bit battered from the intense training that Harry was putting him through, that included him getting knocked right on his shell multiple times per day.

"So, I'm really glad you guys are coming along to give me moral support," said Mikey as he turned to his family, but they all had various states of amusement on their faces, as Master Splinter drew the symbols on the wall, before he began the chant to open the portal to the Battle Nexus.

"Moral support, nah, we're just here to watch you be taught a lesson," remarked Raph.

"Let us go my sons," prompted Master Splinter as he stepped through the portal, with Leo and Don following him. Mikey attempted to sneak off but Raph pulled him forwards, before he shoved Mikey through the portal. Mikey screamed as Raph followed him through with Harry casually following behind. Seconds later, the portal closed as the group arrived in the Battle Nexus.

They walked for several minutes, before they reached the Hall of Past Champions, taking a shortcut through to reach the palace of the Daimyo where they were to report before the rematch between Mikey and Kluh as to begin. Mikey's eyes lit up, as he saw a very familiar face and walked over, with a slightly smug expression on his face.

"Look at that bros, the 1995 Battle Nexus Champion, Michelangelo," read Mikey as he posed next to his statue, looking really pleased with himself but Raph seemed to become disgusted.

"Get away from that Mikey, you'll attract pigeons," said Raph in a disgusted tone of voice.

"Welcome," said the voice of the Daimyo and sure enough, the Daimyo himself walked into the scene, carrying the ever present War Staff, the item that he used to control all the magic that flowed within the Battle Nexus.

"Hello again my friend, it is good to see that you are well," remarked Master Splinter as they all bowed to the presence of the Daimyo, who did look better than the last time they had seen him.

"As it is you my friend," agreed the Daimyo before he turned to Mikey. "And it is excellent to see that your son has returned to honor you in combat, truly this must be a great day for you as a sensei."

"Can't I just honor you at home?" asked Mikey hopefully as he turned to Master Splinter. "You know breakfast in bed maybe…"

"Don't let Mikey fool you Daimyo he's just itching you get in there and get it on, said Raph as he threw a few fake punches in mid air towards Mikey, who stepped back and gave a sheepish grin.

A small figure was moving in the background, looking curiously out from behind the statue of Salazar Slytherin, a movement that caught Don's eye and he turned to Leo with a grin.

"Hey Leo, it looks like the Ultimate Ninja wants a return match," said Don and Leo turned to see the small form of the age regressed Ultimate Ninja, Ue-Sama walked into the picture, looking up Leo.

"I remember some stuff from before but most of it's foggy," commented Ue-Sama as he looked over Leo with a curious expression on his face. "You look familiar though, did we use to play together or something."

"Yeah, something like that," responded Leo, who did not know exactly how to tell a small child that his older self had attempted to murder Leo in a number of occasions.

"Then you shall be my friend," replied Ue-Sama happily and Leo had no idea how to respond to that, other than a calm nod and a slight smile.

Elsewhere, in a large dark room, Kluh grunted in irritation, before he turned to his father Ammag.

"Father, why must be bow to the Daimyo's will, I could have crushed that miserable whelp of a turtle a thousand years over by now," grunted Kluh. "The fool continues to live, for humiliating me two years previous, the victory that he suffered, even if it was a fluke, taunts me, I need to crush him, I must break him."

"And you shall Kluh, but first we must play by the Daimyo's rules, but not for much longer," replied Ammag. "The misguided attempts by that fool Drako to take control of the Battle Nexus has given me the plan to make all bow down to us. We will succeed where he failed, all the magic in the multiverse will be controlled by us Levram warriors. We will prove we are much more than the brutes, the barbarians that others portray as, and soon power will be ours. However, right now, we must follow the Daimyo but not much longer."

Kluh nodded before he turned to a block of wood with the image of his opponent painted up it. Quickly, he slashed his spear at it, slicing it into several pieces. It dropped to the ground as Kluh looked down at it, nodding, as he visualized his opponent in pain, begging for mercy, but Kluh would give none.

In a hallway, Harry turned to Mikey with a serious expression on his face, as Mikey seemed to be on the verge of freaking out.

"Harry, this is not your fault, you did everything you could, but Kluh's going to break my legs, both of them," said Mikey in a panicked voice. "I just had two broken legs and it wasn't pleasant not at all."

"Mikey relax!" snapped Harry in a stern voice. "You need to clear your mind of all doubts, otherwise you'll defeat yourself before you get out there. Now you've shown some improvement from the first day since the end of the third day."

"Yes, I nearly got in a shot on you, bro," responded Mikey but a stern look from Harry had silenced Mikey even more than any silencing spell would have.

"Mikey, you've been notable improvements, the fact remains that the problem with you has never been a lack of skill, rather the fact you are a bloody lazy bum!" yelled Harry and Mikey cringed.

"That was a bit harsh Harry," said Mikey. "Was it really necessary to point out my faults in such a blunt manner?"

"If it will get you to focus on the task at hand, then yes, it's more than necessary," retorted Harry before his expression softened, but only for the briefest seconds. "Still Mikey, it's absolutely crucial for you to get out then and prove yourself, it would reflect badly on the rest of us. If one of us falls, then everyone else falls, your success is directly tied to us, but barring that, no matter what else, do your absolute best."

"Maybe just maybe…" remarked Mikey as Harry looked at Mikey. "Maybe there is still time if I can forfeit."

Harry just turned from Mikey, before he calmly walked off and Leo walked into the picture, to turn to Mikey.

"Mikey, all things considered, you'll do just fine," replied Leo as Raph, Don, and Master Splinter had already made their way out to the arena and he made sure Harry was out of an earshot. "Harry thinks so too, he just has a more deceptive way of saying it. Must be his Slytherin heritage."

"Champion, if Leonardo believes you can win, then I do," chimed in Ue-Sama in a confident voice and Mikey opened his mouth to respond, but the Gyoiji appeared right in the Pavilion of Past Champions.

"It is time, warrior," responded the Gyoiji in his calm voice, as he waved his paddle, vanishing Mikey, and leaving Harry, Leo, and Ue-Sama alone in the Pavilion of Past Champions.

"Come on, we need to get you back to your father," said Leo but at that moment, Ammag entered the area, flanked by eight very vicious looking Levram warriors.

"You aren't going anywhere, at least alive," grunted Ammag, as the Levram warriors rushed forward, with Harry and Leo withdrawing their weapons in an attempt to fight. One of the Levram warriors struck Leo hard, causing him to drop to the ground with one shot. Harry engaged his opponent, weapon shots deflecting off his thick skin, but Harry leapt over the attack, and kicked his larger adversary right in the back, staggering him. Leo was back up and he dodged an attack, before he managed to knock two of the warriors together, stunning them for just a matter of seconds, before they moved back into the attack, refusing to let up on their assault, even for a second.

Ue-Sama backed away, as he watched these bigger warriors make mincemeat out of his new friends, he needed to find his father but he backed right into the monstrous form of Ammag, who lifted him up by the arm viciously, before he turned to his minions.

"You two come with me, I have what I've came for, the rest of you destroy those two insignificant worms," growled Ammag as Leo attempted to make his way over, but was hoisted by the arms, and thrown down, as Harry sprung off one of the statues, knocking one of the Levram warriors to the ground, dropping him like a sack of potatoes.

"Leo, go after the kid, I'll hold them all off," said Harry in a tense voice, as a series of thick cords shot out of mid air, wrapping around one of his opponent and a wave of magically simulated electricity was sent through the Levram warrior, but Harry was dropped by a punch. His opponent attempted to strangle all the air out of Harry.

"But…." Stated Leo, but Harry had managed to kick his opponent off, barely, standing back.

"GO!" yelled Harry and a loud bang caused by a burst of defense magic had convinced Leo to do as Harry said. The Levram warriors moved forward to chase Leo but a wall of fire erected by Harry right in front of him had caused them to be stopped in their tracks, before an invisible force pulled one of the brutish aliens backwards and flung him right into the Battle Nexus statue of the Shredder. The other warriors moved in as Harry turned, before he waved his hand, beckoning them forward, as he stood in a battle stance.

Back in the arena, Mikey turned to face off against Kluh, who looked rather murderous at the moment, both warriors encased in a dome of pure magical energy, so there would be no external interference on this occasion.

"Turtle, Turtle, Turtle!" chanted the spectators but Mikey had nothing to offer, other than a fearful gulp.

"Turtle soup more likely," summarized Mikey grimly, as Kluh rushed him, fist raised and Mikey shrieked like a little girl, but he managed to avoid the beefy fist of his opponent. Another swing and another miss, but the third time was the charm for Kluh as he plastered Mikey in the face with a punch. Quickly, Mikey pulled himself up, and Kluh attempted a punch, but Mikey dodged underneath. Quickly on the rebound, Kluh spun his spear weapon and the wooden handle smashed right into the back of Mikey, dropping the turtle down to the ground.

"Whoa, wait just a minute, that shouldn't have happened!" exclaimed Raph in an astonished voice.

"Now, something's up right there, I mean Kluh's weapon should not even have touched Mikey," added Don and the Daimyo was hunched over, clutching his forehead and Master Splinter quickly rushed over, looking concerned.

"Something has happened, a disturbance in magic around the Battle Nexus, tampering of some sort," remarked the Daimyo and a vicious laugh signaled the arrival of Ammag and two of his Levram warriors, Ammag carrying a sack.

"Daimyo, I acquired the services of a powerful mystic wizard to tamper with your precious wards and he managed to remove your defenses, so the combat between my son and that turtle will be to the death," said Ammag in a pleased tone of voice.

"Speaking of wizards, we really could use Harry right about now," muttered Raph. "Where the hell is he anyway?"

"You mean the human, he's currently being pummeled to an early grave, along with one of those other turtles," said Ammag viciously. "My wizard has control, there is nothing that can be done to stop what has happening."

"You presume too much Ammag, remember, the essence of the Battle Nexus also flows through my veins," said the Daimyo as he screwed his eyes shut in concentration. "Yes, I can feel your wizard now."

The Daimyo raised his war staff but before he could cast the meddlesome wizard out, Ammag spoke.

"I would advise handing over that War Staff to me, or you'll lose something very important," said Ammag in his most dangerous voice as he reached into the bag and pulled out the struggling form of Ue-Sama, as the two Levram warriors stood on either side of Kluh, both looking equally menacing, as the Daimyo looked horrified, before he set down the staff.

"You win Ammag," said the Daimyo in a resigned voice.

Back in the battle, Mikey was sent flying, smacking against the wall and he looked up, in a slightly dazed state.

"Okay any second, I should be disappearing, any moment now," said Mikey as he screwed his eyes shut, but Kluh was pulled up to his feet, before Mikey hung up and Kluh hammered Mikey with a vicious punch to the chest. Another punch and Mikey hung, as Kluh continued to pummel him.

"No way out now, turtle, this match only ends when you lay dead at my feet," said Kluh viciously, as another punch impacted Mikey, as Kluh took his time, slowly beating Mikey to death.

Ammag held Ue-Sama up in the air and as the War Staff was at his feet.

"I lost my son once, I cannot bare to lose him again," said the Daimyo in a deflated voice, as Ammag gave a vicious smirk, the vicious alien held all the cards.

Quickly, in the blink of an eye, Leo bolted in and plucked Ue-Sama out of the clutches of Kluh, before setting him down safely in front of his father.

"And you won't have to," replied Leo but Ammag picked up the War Staff, with a triumphant look etched on his face.

"You may have your brat back, but I still have the War Staff," commented Ammag, as he waved the weapon. "And soon, my son will be finished with that pathetic whelp of a warrior."

"Leo, where's Harry?" asked Don in a lowered voice, as he looked around.

"No wait, let me guess, he insisted that you go save the Daimyo's son, leaving him alone against all of Ammag's alien thugs," replied Raph and Leo nodded and Ammag laughed.

"Foolish human, he has no prayer alone against six Levram warriors," said Ammag. "And soon, the entire multiverse will have no prayer, as we will finally take what is our birthright."

At that moment, a Levram warrior blasted through the door, and Harry stood out, blood dripping down from a slash on his cheek, as he stood to face Ammag, an intense glare in his eyes.

"No, there is no way you could have survived against that many of my warriors," said Ammag but he pointed the War Staff towards Harry. "No matter, I'll reduce you to dust."

With that Ammag sent a jet of magical energy from the War Staff right at Harry, but a golden shield appeared right in front of Harry, blocking the magical attack. The brutish alien growled in frustration, as it attempted to attack Harry once again but once again, Harry blocked it with a well placed shield charm once again as Ammag circled him, holding the War Staff.

Back in the Battle Nexus, Mikey hung limp by one arm as Kluh held him up.

"Pathetic, I had hoped for a challenge but perhaps I had hoped for too much," growled Kluh. "Soon, you will be done and soon my father will have unlimited power, control over the magic in the entire Multiverse. The first that will be slain will be your family but you'll go first, fool."

Mikey looked up, attempting to shake the cobwebs off and finally, Harry's words began to click with him. There was no easy way out this time, he had to fight like he had never fought before and Mikey's eyes flickered open, as Kluh drew his fist back, perhaps ready to deliver the final blow, but Mikey swung his legs up, cracking Kluh right in the face, causing the big warrior to stagger backwards. Kluh gave an angry bellow and charged Mikey but Mikey dodged out of the way and caught Kluh with a knee, which staggered him to the ground. With a focused look in his eyes, Mikey removed his nunchucks, spinning them to gain momentum.

"Come on then big guy, give me everything you got!" prompted Mikey and Kluh rushed forward, weapon drawn but Mikey dodged and Kluh's weapon plunged into the ground. Kluh attempted to wrench it out of the ground, but Mikey swung his weapon and Kluh was smacked right in the face, dropping him to the ground.

Harry avoided the attack before he sent expertly pointed his hand at Ammag, before a banishing charm was sent right at Ammag. The spell only staggered Ammag back but it removed the War Staff from his hand and the Daimyo had grabbed it. The Levram warriors attempted to get at the Daimyo, but quickly a bolt of magical energy had immobilized the nasty aliens.

"Now see what you have brought upon yourself Ammag, the tied as turned," remarked the Daimyo as he pointed to see Kluh being battered slightly by Mikey. "I will allow Michelangelo

decide the fate of your son, but for your sake, I hope you have not condemned him."

Kluh rushed forward but Mikey dodged the attack. As he became airborne, Mikey smashed down onto Kluh and Kluh thumped to his knees, viciously injured by the attack from Mikey. Mikey stepped forward towards Kluh, who was at the mercy of the turtle, a distinct reversal of rolls from earlier, nunchucks spinning wildly as Kluh looked up at Mikey, a defeated look etched in the large warrior's eyes, as blood splashed to the ground.

"Do it, it's your right to finish me," said Kluh gruffly but Mikey's nunchucks stopped spinning as he looked at Kluh.

"No, that's not the way how my father taught me," remarked Mikey as he looked at Kluh with a serious expression on his face. "Besides, you're already finished."

With that, Mikey raised his hand before he calmly tapped his finger on Kluh's head, causing the large warrior to thump to the ground, completely defeated, Mikey having earned the Battle Nexus trophy this time, with no flukes or outside interference, as the Daimyo raised the War Staff to drop the dome.

"Your winner, Michelangelo," announced the Daimyo, as the dome disappeared and the crowd cheered at Mikey's hard fought, well earned victory.

About a minute later, the Turtles, Master Splinter, and Harry found themselves in a palace, where the Daimyo approached Mikey with a medal in his hand.

"And as a result of your performance Michelangelo, I present you with the Medal of Unparalleled Honor," announced the Daimyo, placing around Mikey's neck, as Mikey bowed before the Daimyo in respect.

"Ah man, I though the trophy was bad enough, now this," grumbled Raph under his breath in a slightly agitated voice. "I'm going to have to move."

Mikey turned to Harry, taking a deep breath.

"Thanks Harry," commented Mikey. "You were right."

"Don't mention it, Mikey, you applied yourself and scored the win," responded Harry with a nod.

Over in Britain, Voldemort had walked over to Gringotts, with the proper paperwork drawn up to get the goblins the right to use wands. Other than a couple of minor problems he was required to deal with, he had ruled over his country with no problem, preparing it to take over more but it would be a long term plan. Quite frankly, Voldemort had all the time in the world, after all he was immortal.

Voldemort stepped into the bank and was quickly met up by a goblin.

"This way my Lord," prompted the goblin and Voldemort walked through the corridor, where an entire group of goblins were in a conference room, all looking at Voldemort with greedy expressions on their face.

"I understand how efficient you goblins are, so I doubt that my word would be much collateral," said Voldemort softly, as he reached forward before he pushed the document in front of the goblins. The goblin at the head of the table reached forward and flipped through the stack of documents.

"This all seems to be in order, no deception, now the terms of the contract can be carried out," remarked the head goblin. "I trust provisions will be made for us to learn for us to use our wands."

"Something is in the works but it matters little," commented Voldemort mysteriously and in the blink of the eye, Voldemort had disapparated.

"That should be impossible inside this bank for any human," grumbled one of the goblins but the doors of the conference room were sealed shut. The goblins attempted to blast them with their own unique brand of magic, but they remained immobile.

"Now, you should know that I am not just any human," replied Voldemort. "I wouldn't waste your energy, as you'll need it to hold your breath."

"Why this treachery?" demanded one of the goblins.

"Now I did as I promised, but not once did I promise that you would live long enough to enjoy the right to use a wand," hissed Voldemort in a deadly voice. "You've outlived your usefulness."

With that, a thick yellow substance was pumped into the room, filling the air. The eyes of the goblins widened in horror, before most of them dropped to the ground in a matter of seconds, as the gas filled their lungs. The lungs spontaneously combusted once the gas had came into contact as Voldemort had laughed coldly at the plight of the goblin nation.


	8. Chapter 8: Aliens Among Us

**Chapter Eight: Aliens Among Us**

_In Roswell, New Mexico, in 1947, a large flying saucer zoomed through the sky. In the desert, large tanks barreled down after the flying saucer, as it zoomed. One of the tanks pointed its missile launcher up towards the saucer and seconds later, a large missile whizzed through the sky. The missile connected with the side of saucer, causing it to burst into flames, before it descended from the sky and crashed with a high impact right in the center of the desert, as the tanks rolled in towards the saucers. A group of heavily armed commandos exited the tanks, lead by Agent Bishop, who looked exactly the same in 1947 as he did fifty years later in 1997. _

_The commandos entered the tank, as Bishop stood, calm as ever in the shadows and seconds later, a grey alien with bug shaped eyes was dragged out of the saucer by two of the commandos, completely rattled by his ship being cut down out of the sky. Several more commandos exited the vehicles, carrying several high level pieces of technology, as Bishop nodded, as a helicopter moved in to take the ship as well, to study at a later date. _

Bishop reflected on this incident as he entered one of his many bases of operations, in the heart of Area Fifty One. It was truly one of the many incidents throughout the annals of time that illustrated the fact that aliens polluted aspect of society and remained among us. Incidents that happened before that incident in Roswell and would continue to occur unless something was done.

Bishop entered his secret base, moving inside the lab of Doctor Baxter Stockman, who was busily at work on an ambitious project that Bishop had set for him to do. On the walls had an infinite number of stasis containers, containing a multitude of different alien specimens that had visited the Earth that Bishop had captured.

"Greetings Agent Bishop," remarked Stockman who barely looked up from the work he was doing. "How's Washington? I heard it's rather lovely this time of year."

"It was quite abysmal," commented Bishop in a bored tone of voice, before he got straight down to business. "Status report, Doctor Stockman?"

"We're right on schedule, Agent Bishop," answered Stockman promptly, as he made a few more calculations to ensure that everything was up to specifications. "Normally playing Doctor Frankenstein would be beneath me, but you do have me intrigued. These genetic manipulations you are having me do are quite interesting indeed, but nothing that would further your super solider program. Might I inquire why?"

"Your project has a much broader goal than that Doctor Stockman," responded Bishop calmly. "The bureaucrats in DC intend to cut my funding, thus effectively crippling the effectiveness of the Earth Protect Force. But, I intend to rectify that matter personally and soon enough we will have more than enough funding, straight from the President himself."

"The President?" inquired Stockman in an astonished voice, as he looked at his boss with some skepticism. "How on Earth to you hope to manage that one, sir?"

"In three days time, the President will be in New York, to address the UN and there, I shall demonstrate the necessity of my work to him," replied Bishop, as he stared at the figure in the stasis tube that Stockman was working on modifying and then duplicating. "However, with a current alien threat being absent, one will be created to thoroughly illustrate our purpose."

It was the first week of November, as Alexandra and several American Aurors walked down the street, followed by Lily, Hailey, Ginny, Sirius, Remus, and Harry, all that were in disguise to avoid being recognized by anyone.

"Okay, we need people here, here, and here, just in case any magical assassins get a bright idea to attack the President," ordered Alexandra to the Aurors. "The Secret Service should have be able to put out any Muggle fires, but against witches and wizards, that's a bit out of their pay grade. Use disillusionment charms to cloak yourself, as with a crowd this size, rounding up people to modify their memories would be a mess."

"Right, Madam President, my Aurors are moving in, the Muggle President should be here in a few minutes," commented head Auror Richards, as they quickly moved in, leaving Alexandra with the group.

"This is the President's first visit to New York since shortly after the Triceraton invasion, if I'm not mistaken?" asked Lily.

"Yes, it is, he's had his own problems recently, but this visit should have nothing to do with that," answered Alexandra. "Still, every time he arranges a visit to a high profile city like New York, we have to arrange an extra level of protection to ensure no one from our world takes a shot at him."

"It's worth it though," said Harry calmly, as he looked around. "Imagine the mess you'd have on your hands if the President got struck down with a Killing Curse right in a public forum. The entire Magical/Muggle wall could come crashing down and it'd make the Voldemort thing seem like a minor scuffle."

"That's a rather grim assessment," said Hailey with a shudder. "You sure know how to bring the positive to a situation."

"No, I agree, this is necessary but maybe we'll be lucky and nothing bad will happen today," replied Ginny in an optimistic tone of voice which caused Harry to give her a disbelieving look. "Don't look at me like that, security's tight, on both ends, I mean I doubt even Voldemort would dare try anything."

"Good thing he can't come into the country at the moment unless he takes down the wards," inputted Remus lightly. "Still, I must say this is an interesting experience at the very least."

"You'd think anything's interesting Moony," commented Sirius. "It's just a chance to get out, see the sights afterwards maybe, but it's not like we can get anywhere in the city like this."

Harry looked up and saw four very familiar looking green figures on the roof, as the Presidential motorcade began roll into the city proper.

"Oh no," muttered Harry darkly, as he saw his brothers on the rooftops above, in broad daylight, with all those people in town, with all the security around, and hoped they did not do something stupid to get themselves seen.

On the rooftops, Don turned around, looking down at the scene below, with heat vision goggles on his face, as he scouted from high above, to the streets down below.

"Come on Don, I want to see," pleaded Mikey but Don turned away from Mikey.

"In a minute Mikey…oh look there's a secret service agent," commented Don, looking around excitedly, not too much unlike a kid in a candy store. "And there's another and another and…"

"My turn!" piped up Mikey as he removed the heat vision goggles from Don, who just sighed in an exasperated tone as Mikey placed the goggles on to look down, with the President exiting his limo, flanked b even more Secret Service agents yet. "Oooh, total turtle vision"

"I don't really know if this is such a good idea," remarked Leo in an uncertain voice, as he looked around from side to side. "I mean, given all the security, you know the risks of us being seen are now higher than ever before."

"Come on Leo, how many times are we going to have a chance to see the President come into town?" argued Don. "I heard this is going to be a big speech, it could determine the future of Space Exploration for many years to come."

"Perhaps, but keep on your toes guys, it is at the United Nations and it is the President, so everyone will be on the look out for the strange and the suspicious," commented Leo in an uncertain voice.

"Relax Leo, there shouldn't be any problem, even with all of the Secret Service agents there," remarked Raph. "Man, those guys are supposed to be the best out there, I should be a Secret Service agent, I think I'd be great."

"Yeah Raph, I heard they're really looking for short, green, bald agents," replied Mikey which caused Raph to respond with a glare.

"Shh, the president's going to start, this is going to be big," said Don, as he looked down, straining to listen, as the President stepped up to the podium, to address the crowd.

"Citizens, thank you for coming out here today, I…" started the President, but a loud feedback loop echoed from above and a large red light bathed the city, as the crowd looked up, with several flying saucers appeared, hovering over the crowd, humming menacingly, as everyone looked up, most of them wearing fearful expressions on their face.

"Well, it's going to be big, in more ways you can imagine," said Leo as he looked on, in shock, as the saucers continued to hum, as the entire crowd wondered exactly what their purpose was today.

"Whoa would you look at that, there's an alien invasion, that's something you don't see every day," commented Raph in a slightly sarcastic tone of voice, before he shook his head in irritation. "Oh wait a minute, yeah we do."

"Okay, Don, what do you make of this?" prompted Leo, as he watched the saucers, humming above.

"Well, the crafts don't look to be Triceraton or Federation in origin, or even Utrom, it looks like something out of an old movie" commented Don thoughtfully as he analyzed the saucers. "It's something new, something different than anything we've ever went up against before…"

"And hopefully something friendly," added Mikey, but somehow, this did not appear to be the case at all.

The President looked up in absolute horror, as one of the ships began lighting up, powering up some kind of energy weapon from high above the city.

"This cannot be happening," muttered the Secret Service Agent, before he straightened up and turned to the President with a serious expression on his face. "Mr. President, we need to get you out of here, now."

The pair of Secret Service agents quickly grabbed the President and escorted him back into the limo, just in the nick of time, as the energy weapon from the space ship fired, nearly blowing a hole right through the middle of the street, as the limo turned, and sped off, as mass hysteria raged through the city streets.

Alexandra looked around, and frowned as she got a report, and by the growing horrified look etched upon her face, the news she had just received was far from good, as Lily turned to her friend.

"My Aurors attempted to connect with the ships, to slow them, but magic appears to have no effect," said Alexandra grimly, answering Lily's unasked question, as she looked up. "They're going to try to contain them, but it doesn't look good."

"At least the Muggle Secret Service is trying to get the President out," said Remus as he watched. "Although don't know how far they are going to get, as that thing appears to be on their tale."

Sirius turned to where Harry was standing at least five seconds ago, but much to his surprise, Harry had snuck off, along with Hailey and Ginny as well from the looks of things.

"I know, they went to leave to help out most likely," commented Lily in a calm voice, but she looked out in the crowd where everyone was running, the Aurors attempting to move in to contain the mess, as the Secret Service was more concerned with getting the President out safely. "I suppose we should have expected that to happen, but it looks like the Aurors need our help right now, but still I can't say that I'm not worried."

"Those three have handled much worse, your son especially, they'll be fine Lily," commented Alexandra vaguely as she turned over, to attempt to control the crowd. "Everyone remain calm, we are trying to get everything under control but it is impossible for us to keep you safe, unless you all stay calm"

The presidential limo made its way down the street at a breakneck speed, with one of the flying saucers hovering above it, the energy weapon powering up once again over it, before it shot right towards the limo. The drive put the breaks on, but it was too late, as the energy weapon impacted the tires, blowing them out and caused the limo to skid to a stop, knocking the occupants inside unconscious.

From below, the four Turtles descended to the ground, dropping down towards the limo. Mikey stepped forward, reaching towards the door, before pulling it open, and peaking inside, to see the President slumped inside, unmoving, from getting rattled.

"Think we can keep him?" asked Mikey but Raph stood behind Mikey, a look of disgust appearing on his face.

"I don't have time to whack you Mikey, come on and move it," said Raph and Mikey stepped forward, but footsteps were heard, causing the Turtles to tense up and quickly, they scaled back up the wall, just as the military walked into the alleyway, making their way towards the vehicle.

"Everyone move in, secure the president," ordered the General.

"Good, we can get out of here, before we're seen, the military can take care of the President, get him to safety," muttered Leo under his breath so no one could hear him, as they almost got to the rooftop, but the flying saucer had hovered over the alleyway once again, powering up the energy weapon, before it blasted down into the street, causing the military to back off, as more shots with the energy weapon tore holes in the pavement.

"Fall back, move around to recover so we can…" stated the General, but a blue light bathed the alley way, and several grey, bug eyed aliens appeared, to engage the soldiers, before removing laser blaster weapons. In an instant, the military was backed off, as the laser weapons had obliterated their own guns, causing them to fall back, as the aliens closed in, moving towards the limo.

Quickly, the Turtles jumped down to face off the aliens, but were backed off, as they pointed the weapons at the Turtles and opened fire on them, forcing them to take cover behind some dumpsters, as more laser fire.

"I don't understand, these aliens are using both Triceraton and Federation weaponry," said Don with a frown, as he tried to wrap his hand around what was happening.

"It's just more of a reason to take them out," said Raph, as he withdrew his Sais, before he moved into battle and quickly spun around, dodging into battle, with the other three Turtles also moving it. Raph rammed his Sai into the laser blaster of the alien he was facing off against, causing the laser get jammed, as Mikey and Don were backed off, with Leo attempting to move in from the other side.

"Need a hand?" asked Hailey, as she dropped down, right in front of the aliens, dodging to the side, with Harry and Ginny slowly moving in. An attempted stunning spell flew over the head of one of the aliens but Harry send a wandless blasting spell at one of the blasters, causing the blaster to blow into pieces. The alien that held it began to swell up and quickly it exploded, sending white goop in every direction, splashing the alley walls.

Mikey quickly dodged a laser fire, before he swung his nunchucks, and cracked them against a pair of the aliens. The aliens began to swell up much like the one Harry had connected with and quickly they also exploded, more white goop splashing everywhere. Leo propelled himself up into the air, katanas at ready and came down onto the laser blasters, slicing them to ribbons. Quickly, Don sprung it, and kicked at one of the aliens. The off worlder was sent into the wall where it swelled up and sent more white goop in every direction.

"Ick, this is disgusting," said Hailey in an absolutely mortified voice and true it did take a lot to gross the Potter girl out, but this was pushing it, as she ducked a charge, before she withdrew a crossbow and an arrow, before she impacted the arrow in the chest of one of the aliens. The alien blew up and then exploded, showering her, Ginny, and Harry in the goop.

"Yes, but considering I lived with Fred and George all my life, I'm a bit desensitized to the disgusting," commented Ginny dryly, as she assisted Harry in taking out an alien, who also burst open, sending its filling in every which direction, as they moved in.

One of the last aliens had Mikey pinned down, its razor sharp teeth bared and its eyes widened, but Don stepped in front of it, Bo Staff drawn.

"That's my annoying sibling you have there, slimy," commented Don as he swung the Bo Staff at the alien, striking him and causing the alien to burst open, covering Mikey from head to toe with the white goop.

"Eww, he slimed me," remarked Mikey in an absolutely mortified voice, as the goop dripped down to the ground.

"You wear it well," retorted Don with a grin.

Little did they know, but Agent Bishop had monitored all of the activities from a van not too far from the scene where the aliens attempted to snag the President.

"Meddling fools," said Bishop in a slightly agitated voice, before he turns to one of his subordinates. "Get me Stockman, now!"

The subordinate nodded, before he pressed a few buttons, activating the view screen, as the face of Stockman appeared, looking rather bored.

"How goes your production, Agent Bishop?" inquired Stockman in a casual voice. "Are you the next Orson Welles yet?"

"Your aliens are decomposing ahead of schedule, Stockman," replied Bishop in a soft, deadly tone of voice. "Would you care to offer an explanation as why this is occurring?"

"Decomposing, but how could this be?" asked Stockman in a surprised voice, his eyes widened, as he ran through the computer program that contained the genetic specifications for all the alien creatures. "Well, this could the problem, your parameters only accounted for basic survival instincts and the ability to fire weapons. Hand to hand fighting was not on the list, the physical battering must be accelerating the decomposition process."

At that news, Bishop's forehead swelled up, his skin looking rather unsettled, as Stockman looked at Bishop with a curious expression etched on his face.

"Apparently, they aren't the only one's whose bodies are breaking down," commented Stockman lightly but Bishop looked at him, as he pushed the skin back with a bit of effort.

"Another time, Doctor Stockman," said Bishop in a dismissive voice.

Bishop looked irritated, but never the less, he turned to his subordinates.

"Ready the saucer, we're cutting the invasion short and if anyone gets in our way, obliterate them," said Bishop all in one breath as he turned to oversee that his plan went according schedule.

In the alleyway, the space ship above shot a beam of solid red light out, the field engulfing the presidential limo, and began to pull it up towards the saucer. The Turtles, Harry, Hailey, and Ginny attempted to move forward, but at the speed of light, the limo was sucked right abroad the ship, where the saucer and many other hummed from high above, as they floated in the sky.

"Okay, this is bad," commented Don.

"What was your first clue, aliens abducting the president?" replied Raph in an agitated voice but Harry stood, looking above, frowning.

"Something seems very funny about this entire business," commented Harry suddenly.

"Like what?" asked Hailey curiously but before anyone could answer, Don moved forward, before he removed a vial from his duffel bag and bended down towards the goop.

"Allow me to get a sample and maybe we can shed some light on this entire…what the?" asked Don, as he siphoned some of the goop away, but underneath appeared to be a large, half circular device buried deep within the stuff. "This is just getting stranger by the moment, I just found a transmitter buried deep within this stuff."

"So, it's almost like someone's controlling these aliens," supplied Ginny but Harry also looked up curiously.

"Don, you got your heat vision goggles?" asked Harry and Don nodded. "Check something, the ships seem a half of a second out of sync with the one that swooped up the president."

"Right Harry," said Don, as he pulled out the heat vision goggles and placed them on, looking at the ship. "Guys, these readings are peculiar, and as I shift through the electromagnetic spectrum…Harry's right, something is up. No wonder all the other ships seem out of sync with the mother ship, as all of the other ships are fake, holograms, a complete hoax."

"So the only real one is the one that grabbed the president," commented Leo and Don responded with a nod. "Still, why would someone go to all of the trouble of faking an alien invasion?"

"We'll find out soon," said Don as he hooked up the transmitter to a portable tracking device and it began to beep lightly. "And I was right, this transmitter is giving off a signal, so it will lead us right to whomever is behind this alien invasion."

"I hate all this techno crud," grumbled Raph in an agitated voice. "Just show me what to hit, damnit!"

Sometime later, the group was leaping from roof top to roof top, as they spotted a van with a satellite dish, parked by the river.

"Okay, this all looks familiar," commented Ginny. "I'm beginning to see who's behind this mess…"

"Yeah, that's one of that whacko Bishop's vehicles," said Raph as he looked down.

"So, let's pay him a visit and see what's up," suggested Harry in a gruff voice, as he climbed down.

In the back of the truck, Bishop turned, as one of his subordinates redirected the saucer towards the designation point. In the blink of an eye, the door blasted open, and Harry, Ginny, Hailey, Leo, and Raph entered the truck, causing Bishop's eyes to widen. Bishop's subordinates pointed the weapons right at the group, but Bishop raised his hand to signal them to stop.

"No don't shoot, you'll damage the equipment," ordered Bishop but Harry quickly rushed in and took down one of the commandos with a kick. Another commando swung a punch at Harry but Harry dodged it and knocked his opponent backwards with a punch. Leo sprang off the walls and took out a pair of commandos, dropping them to the ground. One of the commandos grabbed Harry, but Ginny hit him from behind, allowing Harry to flip him to the ground. Quickly, Harry brought both of his feet down onto the face of his opponent. Raph sprang forward and knocked one of the commandos down, dropping him to the ground. Hailey dodged another one of Bishop's subordinates, before she back flipped off the wall and the subordinate turned around, in time to get wrapped up in thick cords by Hailey.

On the top of the vehicle, Don analyzed the satellite with scientific interest.

"Fascinating, but how to shut it down?" asked Don to himself.

"I suggest a fore wood," commented Mikey and Don nodded, pulling his Bo Staff out and swung it, cracking the Satellite dish, knocking it off the truck. From high above, the holographic saucers disappeared one by one.

The final commando dropped by a Harry punch before the group turned and walked towards Bishop, but before anything could happen, Mikey popped his head into the back of the van, a smirk etched on his face.

"People of the planet Earth, you are now safe, the alien menace has ended," remarked Mikey, as he entered the back of the van, followed closely by Don. "Don took out the satellite and poof, no more aliens."

"You did what?" thundered Bishop angrily as he rushed over, looking out the window, as he saw the mother ship careening towards them. "You fool, the President was on that ship."

Bishop looked out, before he moved out, as the ship careened towards the water. Quickly, the Turtles, Hailey, Ginny, and Harry scattered, as the ship knocked into the van, with both splashing into the river.

"Way to go, Einstein," said Raph sarcastically turning to Don, as they looked at the ship in the river, the hatch door blown open from the impact of the crash, and quickly, they moved towards the ship, as they stood looking, before Raph turned to Don. "I vote Don leads the way."

Don stepped into the ship, the others following him, looking around at the interior, awed expressions on their faces, as they looked around.

"Wow, this is something different, the interior is like nothing I've ever seen before," commented Don in an awed voice.

"We can sight see later, we need to find the President," said Harry in a slightly urgent voice as he moved forward, before he pressed a button, opening a door and the all entered the room, before tensing up at the sight they were greeted by, dozens of the same bug eyed grey aliens that they fought earlier.

"They're not moving," said Hailey after a few minutes of uncomfortable silence.

"Might I ask exactly why the slime brothers aren't moving?" asked Mikey, as he looked at them, expecting them to come to life at any second as they looked too still and too silent for his liking.

"Maybe they're on a union break," suggested Raph with a smug look.

"I think when the ship stopped, they became inactive, because they had no orders to receive," inputted Don.

"Very astute as usual Donatello," said Bishop as he walked into the picture, coolly looking at the group.

"Why Bishop, why would you go to all the trouble of staging a fake alien invasion?" demanded Harry in an intense voice, as he stared down Bishop, who just stared at Harry with a calm, cool, and collected manner.

"For the good of all mankind, Harry," responded Bishop in a calm voice, as he turned to the group. "Now if you would excuse me, I need to save the President from quite an untimely fate."

"Are you that whacked in the head Bishop?" demanded Raph as he withdrew his Sais. "The only place you're heading is painville."

"I think not Raphael, my sleeping pets are awakening and in need of a few playmates," remarked Bishop casually as he pulled out a remote control device, reactivating the aliens as they moved towards Hailey, Ginny, Harry, Raph, Don, Mikey, and Leo. "Play nicely children."

Bishop walked off as the aliens moved towards the group, ready for action.

"Oh no, it's slime time again," commented Mikey, as he ducked an attack by one of the aliens, before he smashed his weapon into one of the attackers, knocking his opponent backwards, causing him to swell out and burst open, sending the creamy filling inside everywhere.

"Raph, you and Don go after Bishop, find the president, we'll hold off these things," grunted Leo, as he sliced one of the weapons, dropping the alien, the impact bursting the alien open and his inner material to burst everywhere, as Raph and Don ran off.

"Wait, they get to go, and we have to stay, to fight bug eyed aliens that pop up like giant zits!" exclaimed Mikey in a shocked voice, as Hailey pierced one of the aliens right in the eye with an arrow and it burst open from the impact, as Mikey dodged the white goop of another alien that had been burst open by a well placed "Reducto" from Ginny. "Right now Leo, I think your plan really stinks.

"Stay focused!" warned Harry as used a dagger to stab one of his enemies in the chest, causing him to be ripped open and his insides to explode in every which direction, splattering Harry, Ginny, and Hailey in the goop.

Bishop walked down the corridor of the saucer, before he leaned forward, to speak into his wrist communicator.

"The President is secured in the probe room for extraction, meet me outside the room in five minutes…" stated Bishop, but Bishop was tackled from the side by Raph, slammed into the wall, knocked into the wall.

"YOU!" shouted Raph, as he attempted to pound Bishop but Bishop smacked him backwards, dropping him to the ground as Don leapt up and knocked Bishop back with a shot but Bishop removed his overcoat, to reveal high tech body armor.

"You're a fascinating specimen but nothing can be allowed to interfere with my work," said Bishop, as a series of miniature rockets rose up from Bishop's armor, as he aimed them at Don, but Raph leapt at Bishop, grabbing his arm, sending rockets whizzing in every which direction, but Don managed to die out of the way. Bishop paused, having run out of ammo, before Raph reared back his fist and knocked Bishop back, causing him to stagger, falling down a ventilation shaft.

"Raph, let's go," prompted Don but Raph held up his hand.

"Hang on, I want to hear him hit bottom," remarked Raph and a loud crash caused Raph to smirk.

"GO, GO!" shouted Mikey, as he lead the way, with Leo, Hailey, Ginny, and Harry, all covered in various degrees on the white goop, as the remaining aliens sent jets of laser fire at them.

"BRING IT ON!" yelled Raph as he stood in battle stance, weapons drawn ready to engage the bug eyed extraterrestrials in battle.

"Raph, move it!" ordered Leo.

"Ah, but I like it when they go pop," said Raph in a downed voice, but he followed the others down the hallway, after all, they needed to find the President.

Speaking of the President, he opened his eyes and looked up, face to face with one of the grey bug eyed aliens, as the highest Muggle official in the land found himself strapped to an operating table, as several other aliens moved towards him, one holding up a drill.

"Ah, what is it, let me go!" shouted the President in a terrified voice, as he was tied down, looking absolutely helpless. "What do you want from me, answer me?"

The aliens did not respond but seconds later, Mikey, complete covered in the alien goop, burst through the doors and dropped to the ground, looking up to the President with a sheepish look etched on his face.

"Uh, hi," said Mikey as he looked up at the President nervously, with the others entering, Hailey having a very noticeable "we're so screwed" look etched on her face. "We are so dead."

"We'll worry about that later, right now, let's go and get the President," said Leo but the aliens turned to the group, before they blasted a jet of laser fire of them.

"A lot easier said than done," remarked Ginny in an agitated voice, as Harry attempted to blast one of the aliens out of the way, but the alien dodged, but then the doors burst open, to reveal Agent Bishop and his commandos. Quickly, Ginny, Harry, Hailey, and the Turtles

Dodged behind a control console, as Bishop and his men stood forward, their own weapons drawn.

"Agent Bishop, help me, these aliens…" said the President.

"We're here to save you, Mr. President," replied Bishop in a would be reassuring voice before he turned to his squadron. "Open fire, destroy them all."

A blast of fire was opened up, impacting the aliens, causing them to be obliterated with a matter of seconds on contact, as Bishop and his commandos made short work of this simulated threat.

"This is nuts, we can't let Bishop take the President," remarked Raph.

"Raph, if Bishop wanted to hurt the President, he could have done so by now," said Don. "There's something else, something bigger than we could ever imagine."

"We need to get out of here before those commandos attempt take us out," commented Leo, and seconds later, they turned, before they snuck out as the last alien failed and the commandos walked over to free the President.

"I owe you my life Agent Bishop," said the President graciously. "Whatever your department needs, money, men, just say the word and you can have it."

"You can count on me, sir," replied Bishop smugly, as he escorted the President from the saucer.

Back at the Potter Residence, Harry, Hailey, and Ginny were sitting around the television, watching the fallout from Bishop's faux alien invasion.

"The President is now safely back in DC, where he has pledged to renew funding for the Earth Defense Force," said the newscaster.

"All this, just for money," remarked Ginny.

"Figures," commented Hailey in a disgusted tone of voice, as the President walked up to the podium that can be seen on the screen, with Bishop standing coolly in the shadows.

"Citizens, the alien threat is very real and the Earth Defense Force will do everything in their power to prevent any further attacks, from aliens such as this," said the President, as dramatic artist renditions of the Turtles appeared on the screens, with glowing red eyes, fangs, and claws, with menacing looks etched upon their face, as Harry narrowed his eyes as he looked at the screen.


	9. Chapter 9: Paradoxes

**Chapter Nine: Paradoxes: **

Hailey dodged a jet of magical energy in the virtually created training room in the Potter Residence. She could barely keep up with her opponent, who just happened to be her brother Harry. The fact that she had a wand, when he didn't only just slightly evened the odds in her favor. Quickly, she dodged an unfamiliar spell, as it was unwise to put up a shield charm against a spell that was unknown.

She saw Harry off in the distance but she smirked, and quickly turned around, to send a stunning spell in the other direction, right towards Harry, but Harry blocked it as seemiglessly as breathing, a circular ring was sent right towards Hailey. Hailey attempted to dodge, but the ring smartly swirled towards Hailey, wrapping around her arms and causing her to drop her wand. Hailey fell down, defeated, and rather trapped. She squirmed, in an attempt to get out.

"Deactivate," announced Harry and the room around them disappeared, returning to the basement, revealing that Neville, Ginny, Lily, and Hermione had been watching.

"That was brilliant Hailey," said Neville as he looked down at her, looking a bit concerned as the circular energy rings disappeared and allowed Hailey to get to her feet, wincing slightly. "You alright?"

"Fine, thank you, just a bit shaken up," answered Hailey promptly.

"I agree with Neville, that was pretty good," inputted Hermione and Hailey nodded.

"Yes, Hailey, that was good, I'm proud of you," said Lily and Hailey smiled at her mother's words of encouragement.

"Yes, you were really good this time, wasn't she Harry?" asked Ginny, as she walked over, nudging Harry in the side slightly.

"You learned from your mistakes last time Hailey," replied Harry in a serious, emotionless tone of voice. "There's always room for improvement however."

Harry calmly walked off as Hailey looked a bit crestfallen at Harry's indifferent assessment of her performance, as she stood in the shadows.

"Now Hailey, from Harry, especially lately, that's a glowing assessment," commented Ginny. "You lasted longer against him this time, hell, when we dueled, you beat me, you're getting really good."

"Ginny's right Hailey," added Neville. "I'm sure Harry's really proud of you, he just…"

Whatever Harry was, Neville did not say, as Hailey nodded slowly.

"Nice to see one of us is sure about that fact," replied Hailey in a slightly moody tone of voice.

"Now, Hailey, I don't think it would be a good idea for you to take this too hard," cautioned Lily but nothing she said seemed to be getting through to her daughter.

"I'm not taking this too hard," responded Hailey in an absolutely stubborn tone of voice. "I just need to go for a walk, to clear my head."

Hailey walked up the stairs, slamming the door hard behind her, as she walked off, with the rest of the group, with a few uncomfortable moments of silence existing before Neville decided to be the one to break it.

"She really puts a lot of stock into what Harry thinks," commented Neville wisely and their was no disagreement to what he said.

"Mostly because they're so close," muttered Lily, as the close relationship between her two children was something she was absolutely pleased with and really wished that she had with Petunia. Truthfully, at one time they were that class, but once Lily had found out she was a witch, they drifted apart, mostly to the fact that Petunia was jealous but also sadly the death of their parents was the final nail in the coffin.

"Harry also puts a lot into how well Hailey does," inputted Hermione. "If she doesn't do as well as Harry hoped for he, he takes it like a personal reflection of failure on himself."

"That sums up everything," agreed Ginny, as the others looked at her and she sighed. "I'll go and try to talk to Harry, but I'm not promising anything."

Ginny walked off, with the others also following her up the stairs, back into the main kitchen of the house.

In a dilapidated house, in a rundown part of the city, lived a man who was once one of the most inept criminals in the entire city, but now thanks to extensive rehabilitation, he had given up his criminal ways. His name was Maxwell Eugene Windsor, the man once known as the clock obsessed mental case known as Chronos. That was behind him, as far as he was concerned, he resolved to never dawn his other persona once more, as his criminal past should just remain in the past.

"What do you mean you're shutting the power off?" demanded Windsor in an agitated tone of voice. "Yes, I realize I haven't paid the bill the past three months, but I'm looking for a job, I'll pay it all, I just need more time, wait, you can't just shut me off…"

At that second, the dimly lit lights of Windsor's house faded to black and Windsor cursed, slamming the phone done onto the receiver. Those people at the power company had no sympathy, in fact, no one else did as well. All he wanted was one chance to make everything right, more and more, he wished he had not wished he had turned to a life of crime in the first place, he wished he had not been humiliated by a seven year old version of Harry Potter. Still, what was done, was done, it was not like Windsor could rewind the hands of time.

Windsor fumbled around in the dark, looking for a candle, before thankfully finding one and lighting it, illuminating the area around him. Reaching forward, he picked up the newspaper for this day, before he sat in a rather battered looking chair, just something to get his mind off of his hardships, which was pretty much his entire life. Yet, as he began to thumb through the paper, a rather interesting headline caught the eye of the former self proclaimed Lord of Time.

_Physics Professor Let Go Due to Insane Theory, Claims To Have Built a Time Machine. _

"What do we have here?" muttered Windsor in glee, as he read through, with interest, as he read the paper. "Winston Fripp, says that through years of extensive study, has created a device that he claims will allow him to travel throughout time, as seamless as breathing, but attempts to get funding to mass produce the belt have proved fruitless. Fripp refuses to disclose location of the prototype, but is rumored to be in his Long Island residence."

Windsor let the paper drop to the floor, a gleeful expression on his face, he had a second chance in life, to turn back the hands of time, to stop his past self from making a huge mistake. True, he had heard that tampering with time had serious consequences, but Windsor refused to believe such drivel. What could go wrong? He walked over towards a dusty box underneath his table, before he opened it up. Once more, Chronos would live again, to secure a better future for Max Windsor and alter time so that Chronos would have no need to exist.

Hailey walked down the street, deep in thought. Truthfully, she wanted to believe that Harry was impressed with the improvements she made. Granted, she was not as good as Harry was and quite frankly, the chances that Hailey ever would surpass her brother at either magical or ninjitsu were slim to absolutely nothing. Still, would it hurt Harry to give a little positive reinforcement? She was trying hard, doing the best she could and actually being ambitious enough to improve herself.

Hailey stopped, seeing a newspaper lying on the sidewalk. It seemed relatively new, and she picked it up, thumbing through it with some interest. Most of it was the more or less business as usual, but an item caught Hailey's eye. She read through, the article talking about the lunacy of a physics professor claiming that he had built a time machine. Perhaps she had been hanging around Harry way too much and thus she was able to drawn insane conclusions from what seemed like just mere coincidences, but Hailey wondered if this little article would attract the attention of the self professed lord of time, Chronos. While as far as she knew, he had been rehabilitated, something like that could tempt him back into the life he once had. Perhaps she was being silly, but a quick change of costume was something that Hailey felt necessary, so she could scope out the home of this supposed nutty physics professor, as the address was printed clearly in the paper. She moved into a phone booth, double checking to see no one was there, and walked inside, carefully putting a Muggle repelling charm, along with a privacy charm, before she changed into the Black Phantom.

Outside of the Winston Fripp residence, Chronos tiptoed in, sneaking around and looked right at the gate, which was naturally locked. He removed a clock hand shaped lock pick from his pocket and stuck it into the lock, twisting it and the lock clicked open. Chronos stepped to the gate, before he looked around. A large beeping sound echoed throughout the residence and Chronos paused, before a large laser cannon lifted out of the roof of the home. The lasers lit up and blasted right towards Chronos. Quickly, Chronos threw himself out of the way and the laser impacted into a tree, reducing it to a mere walnut. Chronos dodged another laser blast, a nearby toad being struck and reduced into a tadpole. Quickly, he removed his clock-zooka and aimed it, before he shot a series of clocks right at the laser cannon. It blasted the clocks out of the way but the final clock just managed to get through the defenses. The clock knocked the cannon out, pieces of glass lodging into it and messing it the laser cannon.

Chronos stepped forward and pulled out an alarm clock. Winding it up, Chronos rolled it towards the door, before he threw himself behind the bushes. A large explosion blasted the door open and Chronos rolled inside, before he pointed his crossbow, before he prepared to load a clock hand shaped arrow at him.

"Mr. Windsor, I've been expecting you," commented the voice of Winston Fripp as he walked into the foreground, with a large belt with an hour glass on the front. "In fact, I know this entire scene by heart…"

Chronos threw himself at Fripp but Fripp calmly and fluidly stepped out of the way, causing Chronos to slam himself against the wall, staggering the clock obsessed fiend.

"A fruitless attempt to attack me," commented Fripp. "Save the trouble old bean, you won't be able to touch me with my Temporal Wave Belt. It can turn back the hands of time, at least for a few minutes, it's not stable for any further lengths as of yet, but perhaps in time."

A smoke bomb burst through the windows, cloaking the area and the Black Phantom quickly entered the area, as Chronos got up.

"You just couldn't keep your nose clean, could you Windsor?" asked Hailey in an irritated voice before he turned to Fripp. "You're actually naïve enough to believe he's actually built a working time machine."

"I assure you I have," commented Fripp as he flipped over a metal panel on the back and twisted a knob, seeing the girl's eyes widen as he was pulled back into time to a few seconds ago.

"You're actually naive enough to believe that he's actually built a working time machine," repeated Hailey, before she slapped her head, it was almost like she just said that, before Fripp reached over to a bust and pulled back to the head, before activating a switch.

"I'd really love to stick around and chat, but I simply don't feel like finding the time," commented Fripp and a panel of the wall slid open, to reveal a quartet of robots, they moved towards Hailey, who dodged an attack, before she sprung up and grabbed one of the robots, before flipping him over. A second robot swung his fist but Hailey ducked and the android punched the wall. It would not be denied as it advanced on Hailey, hands raised, but she flung a pair of shuriken at the robot, blowing a hole in its chest and deactivating it. Another one of the robots slammed the back of the head of Hailey, staggering her down.

Chronos turned and made a movement towards Fripp, grabbing Fripp, but Fripp managed to activate his belt, rewinding time once more. This time as Chronos attempted to attack Fripp, he dodged, as one of the robots moved towards Chronos, but Hailey sent a jet of orange light at it, causing it to impact the robot, melting the upper half of its body. Hailey slid underneath the attack of the robot, before several thick grey ropes wrapped around the robots and sent a jet of electricity threw it, short circuiting the robot, dropping it to the ground. The final robot moved towards Hailey, but Chronos winded up the alarm clock, before he threw it at the robot. The robot was blown to bits, with Hailey putting a shield charm up, preventing her from eating the impact.

"Warn me next time!" shouted Hailey in an angry voice but Chronos turned towards Fripp, attempting to get the belt but Hailey watched Fripp reach for the switch. Quickly, she flung a shuriken at Fripp, forcing him to remove his hand from the switch and Chronos had his hands on the belt, but Hailey summoned it from his grips.

"Wait a minute, that's my time travel device, go steal your own, Black Phantom!" yelled Chronos as he rushed Hailey and attempted to punch her but she casually dodged it, with Chronos tripping over his own feet. Chronos quickly got to his feet and turned to Hailey. "It's time for you to learn a lesson."

Hailey tripped Chronos, causing him to fly into a banister.

"This is a dangerous device, I can't allow this to remain, what if someone competent and dangerous gets their hands on it and makes it work?" asked Hailey, as she turned to Fripp.

"It won't come to that," replied Fripp in a defeated voice, as Hailey held the belt in her hand. "There is a missing component that prevents the belt from going back more than a few seconds, this is about as far as I could go, without the universe giving me funding. Perhaps you should give me the belt and allow me to destroy it, I can see now what making it has done to me."

"No, I'll destroy it myself," responded Hailey, who was a bit too smart to fall for that old trick, but Chronos had removed a cuckoo clock from behind his back and sprung it forwards. A bird shot out of the clock and opened its mouth, spraying gas into the room, causing both Fripp and Hailey to cough madly, Hailey managing to put up a bubble headed charm, but Chronos already had his hands on the temporal wave belt, strapping it on.

"Now, time is mine to command!" yelled Chronos in an insane tone of voice, but Hailey sprang up and grabbed Chronos by the arm, attempting to pull him back.

"OH NO YOU DON'T!" shouted Hailey, but Chronos had managed to spin the knob on the belt, but much to his horror, it snapped.

"Stupid piece of junk!" snapped Chronos but a worm hole opened in front of them, causing them to be sucked through, at the speed of light, both screaming at the top of their lungs, before they dropped down in the middle of a New York City Street.

Hailey pulled herself up, looking on with horror, as the belt was emitting sparks in every which direction, as Chronos seemed to look around, before he grabbed a young boy by the shirt.

"Quick what's the date today?" asked Chronos.

"Uh April 21st, 1978," stammered the boy a bit put out by the insane look in Chronos's face but Hailey rushed over and knocked Chronos backwards with a punch, causing him to skid to the ground, cracking his goggles, but he just responded by rearing his head backwards and laughing like a mad man.

"What is so funny, Windsor?" demanded Hailey.

"Well, I might have overshot my target, but I can wait until the time comes, so I can reverse the wrong that was done to me," said Chronos. "You, on the other hand, Black Phantom, are marooned in time without a cause."

Hailey's eyes flickered open, as she rushed Chronos but Chronos ran off down the street, laughing madly, the Temporal Wave belt strapped around his waist. Chronos rushed into the middle of the street, as a blind man tentatively crossed the street.

"That time obsessed idiot could not have gotten that far," said Hailey as she absent mindedly watched a young boy cross the street, with a jar full of turtles in his hand, but a truck barreled down the street.

"OUT OF THE WAY!" yelled a teenager, as he rushed into the street, in an attempt to help the blind old man, knocking the young boy forward, causing the jar of turtles to slip from his grasp. Instinctively, Hailey reached forward and caught the jar of turtles before they dropped to the ground, before handing them to the boy, who ran off, without bothering to thank her.

"You're welcome!" shouted Hailey sarcastically, before she opened her eyes, realizing what she had done, as she spotted a truck with the letters "TCRI" driving down the street, out of sight and down the street. "Oh son of a…"

A loud honk cut off Hailey, as a rather irritated looking middle aged man drove down the street, looking pissed at the old man being in the center of the street.

"I didn't just do that, I didn't just do that, I didn't just erase them from existence," muttered Hailey under her breath, wondering what the ramifications were but she saw the glint of the Temporal Wave Belt and it seemed to be humming madly.

"What is with this thing?" asked Chronos before temporal energy burst from the belt, creating the worm hole and began to suck Chronos through. Quickly, Hailey rushed through the hole, both of them, moving through the stream of time, this time moving forward back into the time.

Hailey dropped down, wincing as she hit the ground, with Chronos looking shaken as well.

"Where am I?" asked Hailey, but she looked around, as far as she knew, she was still in New York, but it was very different from the one they left, as there appeared to be no one outside and she did a double take, as she walked into a park across the street and blinked.

In the park was a humongous statue of Harry, maneuvered in such a way that it was watching the rest of the city and quickly Chronos tapped Hailey on the shoulder, before she could figure out what was going on

"I hate to do this, but we're not alone!" called Chronos with wide eyes as an infinite number of Foot Ninjas dropped down, before they were lead by a very familiar and extremely unwelcome face.

"No," muttered Hailey as she found herself face to face with what by all indications appeared to be the Shredder or at least someone wearing his armor, this Shredder seemed to be several inches shorter than the one Hailey had remember. Nevertheless, he looked just as menacing, as he pointed his hand forward, signaling for the Foot Ninjas to attack.

Hailey dodged underneath a chain that was whipped towards her face, before swooping down and avoided getting cracked with a staff to the face. She sprung up and bounced off the trees, before she knocked down a pair of the assassins, before she stole out of their katanas. Quickly, Hailey dodged around and swung the weapon, disarming a trio of Foot Ninjas, before rolling underneath and taking out another two with a split kick, but still more ninjas yet came. Hailey vaulted into the air with a somersault, flicking several shuriken behind her back. They all stuck to the ground, blowing holes into the ground and knocking several of the warriors back. Still, there were way too many ninjas as Chronos stood back, out of the way, in an attempt to get the belt to work.

"Stupid thing, work damn it, rewind, fast forward, pause time, DO SOMETHING ALREADY!" yelled Chronos as he shook the belt but other than a few sparks, it remained motionless, as Hailey managed to climb up onto the large statue, before she pointed her wand at the Foot Ninjas, but nothing happened.

"STUPEFY!" yelled Hailey desperately, but nothing, not the merest spark, not the merest flicker from her wand, as the ninjas began to scale up the statue. Hailey cracked one of them right in the face with her foot, before she sliced another in the chest with the stolen katana, before she managed to struggle to lift the ninja up a few inches before she lost her grip, causing the assassin to drop, knocking several of his fellow assassins down, before Hailey dropped down and she came face to face with the Shredder himself.

The Shredder launched his fist right in Hailey's face, knocking her backwards. Blood dripped down from Hailey's nose as Hailey pulled herself up, managing to just barely dodge the Shredder's second assault, before she somersaulted over the top, but Shredder grabbed her by the ankle. Hailey winced as she connected with the ground hard, but she managed to kick off with her free leg, knocking the Shredder right in the face. Shredder dropped to the ground for the briefest second, helmet knocked off.

Hailey pulled herself up and came face to face with the unmasked Shredder. She did a double take, she must have hit her head, because she could not believe her eyes of who exactly was underneath the helmet and armor of the Shredder.

"Okay, this is so wrong on so many levels," commented Hailey, as Harry advanced forward, with the Foot Ninjas following closely behind.

Hailey dodged an attack, managing to knock one of the ninjas down to the ground. A back handed punch knocked another one of her punch and Hailey felt herself being rather fatigued from the strain of fighting, something that was a foreign concept to her, as she did not get tired that easily. She slid underneath the attack of one of her opponents but she winced as a dart had stabbed her arm. Hailey felt the world around her going all hazy, as she collapsed to her knees, completely dizzied by whatever was in the dart, her stomach queasy, before she passed out.

Harry turned and pointed emotionlessly to Chronos, who looked fearful as several ninjas approached him, grabbing him by the arms and dragging him off, causing him to drop the belt as he passed out. Walking forward, Harry picked up the mysterious belt and draped it over his shoulder, before he walked off to follow the Foot.

Chronos's eyes flickered open, realizing that he had been stripped of all of his clock based weaponry, and had been placed in some kind of prison cell. Looking up, Chronos attempted to pound on the cell.

"LET ME OUT!" yelled Chronos, who looked absolutely petrified. "I'm claustrophobic! You need to let me out!"

Yet, no one seemed to come, and he caught sight of the Black Phantom, who looked to still be out from being drugged by that dart. Chronos walked over, her breathing was very shallow, but other than that, she offered no movement.

"Well, at least I'll find out the super secret identity of the Black Phantom," remarked Chronos as he casually bent down, before he lifted the mask off her face and removed it. His eyes widened in shock, as he stared at the Black Phantom's unmasked voice. "WHO THE HELL IS THIS PERSON!"

Chronos stepped back, attempting to figure out a way to get out of here, he didn't really care how, he just hated being in an enclosed space.

Hailey lifted her head off the pillow, still groggy from being drugged.

"What the…" slurred Hailey before she shook her head in an attempt to clear the cobwebs, dried up blood clinging to her nose. "Great, all the people I'm locked in a cell with, I would have to be you Windsor."

"I'm not too thrilled about the arrangements either," muttered Chronos. "I need to find a way out of here."

"I still have my wand, so I should be able to get us out of here" commented Hailey as she got up to her feet, nearly collapsing from the after effects of the dart, as she pointed it to the door. "Alohomora."

Nothing, not even a spark, Hailey might have just had a piece of wood in her hand, because that was what her wand was right now.

"That Temporal Wave Belt must have done something to my magic," theorized Hailey, in frustration, as she held onto the wall, feeling a bit dizzy.

"Right, magic," remarked Chronos as he slowly backed away before turning to talk to no one in particular. "And people think I'm insane."

Heavy foot steps were heard and Hailey tensed up, ready to fight, even through she could barely stand, as she felt a headache coming on. The door opened as Hailey slipped her wand back into her pocket and the large man mountain known as Hun walked in. Hun reached forward and roughly grabbed Hailey by the arm, pulling her forward.

"He wishes to deal with you personally," grunted Hun as he dragged Hailey down the hallway, who squirmed and Chronos was locked inside the room behind Hun. "The Shredder's personal attack dog, his personal assassin, and the head of the Foot while the Shredder takes care of some business in off this planet. So he was put in charge of the Foot, despite the fact that I've been here longer."

"I detect a note of disapproval that you've been outranked," taunted Hailey. "Maybe because the only thing you are fit to run is a group of common street punks."

"Mind your tongue girl," growled Hun, as he dragged her down the hallway, and pushed over the door, before he tossed Hailey inside, right at the feet of Harry, who had removed the Shredder armor. At this time, Harry was currently handing the Temporal Wave Belt over to one Doctor Baxter Stockman.

"Naturally, one of my scientific genius could get something like this working, just a few minor adjustments to correct whatever imperfections the fool that created this device had made," replied Stockman in a slightly intimidated tone of voice, as Harry just stared him down through his cold emerald eyes, not bothering with the slightest hint of emotion. "I'll get on it right away, no need to thank me of course, heaven forbid you actually speak to anyone."

"Here she is," inputted Hun, a bit of disgust evident in his voice, a bit too much for Harry's likely, as Hailey watched him reach forward and grab Hun around the arm, before twisting him to the ground by the arm, magically burning Hun on the arm. "Let up, let up, I'm sorry I showed you such disrespect…"

With what could be interpreted as disgust at Hun's show of weakness, Harry dropped Hun to the ground, causing the large man to turn away, so Harry could not see his irritation at being showed up by him again. Slowly, Harry turned to Hailey, who stared back, she looked very worried, this was not the Harry she knew, not at all.

"What has happened to you?" asked Hailey but Harry remained immobile, unmoving, without a word escaping his lips, as if his face was carved out of granite. "What's happened Harry, say something, breath for Salazar's sake? What have I done?"

"The boy's mind has essentially been rewired to be an emotionless assassin and nothing else, one of the Shredder's better pieces of work I must say," supplied Stockman casually, as he was discussing the weather, as he made some final adjustments on the belt.

Harry stepped forward, before he picked up a katana and slid it towards Hailey's feet, before he removed a katana of his own, before he stared down at Hailey coldly.

"Wait a minute, you want me to fight you and if I can somehow beat you, you'll let me live?" asked Hailey and Harry gave a cold, emotionless nod towards her, as he picked up the katana. "Harry, listen to me, I really don't want to fight you…"

Hailey shrieked as Harry swung at her, in an attempt to slice her throat with the sword she just barely managed to dodge out of the way. The realization was that she was fighting a losing battle was all too real to the young Potter girl. Harry did not know her in this altered reality, so he had no qualms about holding back and quickly, Hailey rolled underneath another attack from Harry. A desperation punch by Hailey might as well have been leveled against a titanium wall, because Harry effortlessly caught her arm and whipped her over right onto her back. Hailey connected with the ground with a smack and she could barely regain her bearings, before Harry came down from above her, the sword aimed at the top of her head. At the last possible nano-second, Hailey blocked his attack, before she tucked her feet into Harry's stomach. Using all the leg strength she could muster, she flipped Harry over. Harry landed on his feet and quickly threw a dagger right at Hailey, who just managed to slice it in half before it plunged right into her chest.

Hailey slumped against the wall, breathing heavily, she could not keep this up much longer. Harry, on the other hand, seemed like he could go all day as he rushed at Hailey. Hailey just managed to move out of the way, but Harry's blade had cut her sleeve. She winced, as blood dripped from the cut that Harry had opened. An uppercut punch impacted Hailey right in the face and she dropped to the ground, dazed, with her weapon

"I'm going to die," muttered Hailey in a terrified voice, as Harry slowly advanced on her, prolonging the agony. Quickly, Hailey rummaged through her pockets, looking for something, anything to use that could slow her brother down but all she had was her wand, which proved to be absolutely useless, given the fact that she couldn't do magic. Harry stood on Hailey's throat and raised the wand. Instinctively, Hailey took her wand and jabbed it as hard as she could into the hand of Harry!

Much to her surprise, Harry stepped back, before he bowed to Hailey and slid the sword back to her. Hailey pulled herself up, and picked up the weapon, she could feel her left eye swelling shut, but she would not give up. Harry, the Harry she knew at least, would not approve of that. Hailey rushed forward, but her opponent casually blocked the weapon attack. Another sword clang and another block, before Harry swiped his blade towards Hailey's midsection. She gracefully back flipped over the move and landed right behind Harry, before she looked down at Harry, quickly leapt right at Hailey. The katana snapped in half and Hailey was knocked firmly on her arse once again at the hands of Harry. She pulled herself up and dodged an attack by Harry. Quickly, Hailey grabbed the broken blade of the sword and jumped up, hanging onto the support beams from above. Harry followed her up, quickly, as he pulled the deflated warrior to her feet, wanting to put her out of her misery.

In the blink of an eye, Hailey raised the shattered blade and impacted it right into the chests of Harry, stabbing it deep inside as possible. Harry was on one knee and Hailey reared back her foot, before she struck Harry right in the face with a kick. Another kick and Harry's nose was cracked.

"Sorry Harry," muttered Hailey as she caught Harry with another kick that rocked him but Harry grabbed her and launched her right off the beams above. Stockman's eyes widened, as he quickly pulled the belt off the table, as Hailey crashed right through the wood, blood splattering everywhere.

Hailey rolled over, she had never been in such pain, not even when Bellatrix attacked her during her sixth year and Harry dropped down, as Hailey rolled over, to look up at Harry, splinters impaled into her arm and she was barely able to breath because of suffering a multitude of cracked ribs. The fact that she was upset because she thought Harry was a bit harsh to her seemed a bit silly in hindsight. Hailey would rather have cold, harsh, indifference, than be beaten to death, especially by Harry. She could feel it, she was clinging onto life and Harry stood over Hailey, before he dropped his weapon down, much to Hailey's astonishment.

"What are doing Potter?" demanded Hun as Harry walked over and removed the Temporal Wave Belt from the grasp of Stockman. Before he walked over to and bowed towards Hailey's deflated form, before he dropped the Temporal Wave Belt right into her hand. Hailey attempted to sit up, as the belt began to glow a golden color, as Hailey felt herself pulled back through another time hole.

Hailey blinked, as she was now watching the kid with the pet turtles preparing to cross the street.

"OUT OF THE WAY!" yelled a teenager, as he rushed into the street, in an attempt to help the blind old man, knocking the young boy forward, causing the jar of turtles to slip from his grasp.

"Sorry kid, but you have to lose your pets, it's for the best" muttered Hailey under her breath, as she watched the jar shatter, the turtles being swept into the sewers, just like it should have been. Across the street, Hailey saw the TRCI truck swerve and the canister of ooze fly out, right down the sewers where the pet turtles were.

Walking over, Hailey spotted Chronos who stood across her, a smirk on his face but wearing the faulty version of the Temporal Wave Belt as well, with Hailey still in possession with of the repaired and working belt.

"Black Phantom, with this belt, I have the…" remarked Chronos before he looked at her. "When did you get one of those belts?"

"Bye Windsor, your time's up," said Hailey as she activated the belt, hopefully returning home to a completely restored future but Chronos laughed in amusement, his amusement was rather short lived as the belt began to sputter, causing him to scream as he was sucked to a rather distorted looking time hole.

On the other end, Chronos landed and he blinked, it right before he would make the first ill fated attempt to rob that gas station.

"Hey, buddy, I wouldn't do that if I was you and you will be me if you keep it up!" called Chronos but his past self did not seem to hear him and Chronos blinked, he could not see his reflection in the window across from where he stood. He tried to move forward, but his legs were froze as he watched the entire scene of the most humiliating moment, unable to do anything.

Chronos felt a slight tug and he saw the entire scene replay before him once again, as the Temporal Flux Belt began to melt directly into his skin, as he watched his humiliating defeat all those years ago at the hands of young Harry Potter again. Another rewind and Chronos screamed in agony, as he saw the same scene play out once again.

"I'll get out of this somehow!" screamed Chronos as he watched the scene play out again and would see the worst moments of his life over and over again for the rest of his life.

Hailey returned and the first thing she did, was pointed her wand towards an apple that had fallen around the ground. Quickly, it zoomed towards her hand, it had successfully been summoned and that gave Hailey every indication that her magic had returned, so she had no reason to believe that the time stream had been fixed. Calmly, Hailey draped the Temporal Wave Belt over the fence and pointed her wand at it.

"REDUCTO!" yelled Hailey and sure enough, the time device was blasted to bits, completely destroyed by all repair. Quickly Hailey walked off, making her way home. The night had been long.

Harry walked down the cavernous marble hallway, as he looked around in slight irritation.

"Great this dream again," muttered Harry under his breath and he saw Ginny standing there, looking rather confused. "Hi, Ginny, fancy meeting you here."

"Harry, do you know where we are?" asked Ginny, as Harry grabbed her by the hand.

"In a dream, an avenue of fools, this time you're getting dragged along for the ride," commented Harry and a pit of flames appeared in front of the two, with a robed figure rising high above them, sitting legs crossed, as he looked down at them, his eyes not visible. "Great, you again."

"Again?" asked Ginny.

"This guy's been in my dream every night, I'd rather dream about you to me honest, but this robed guy just stares at me, for what seems like forever, and then bad things start to happen, fragments that don't make sense," answered Harry promptly. "Who are you anyway?"

The robed figure remained immobile and Ginny stepped forward.

"Listen to me, you've been tormenting Harry and I don't like that," said Ginny in a forceful voice. "I want some answers and I want them now, who are you, what are you?"

"The darkness that Harry Potter is unwilling to accept, embrace," hissed the robed figure and the voice sound all too familiar. "I've been always inside him, and one day, he will have to tap into my power."

"YOU AREN'T REAL!" yelled Harry. "Lies, it's my conscience trying to beat me up for giving up, but damn it, I did the right thing, I won't go back."

"No one's making you go back Harry," replied Ginny soothingly, as she glared at the figure.

"You can discount me as just another voice in your head, but I'm much more than that Harry Potter," commented the robed figure. "I've been here for sixteen years, I'm not going away any time soon. I will be a part of you, no matter how hard you try to bury me deep within your subconscious."

"LIES!" yelled Harry.

"You saw what he was, he became what he was because he accepted me, worked with me to do what he felt was necessary, you must do the same or your friends, your family, even your great love will meet their demise," remarked the robed figure.

"Who accepted this thing?" asked Ginny but Harry's eyes were widened, as he stared down the figure.

"It's not important Ginny, he's not important, he can't hurt either of us, I won't let him," said Harry quickly, averting the subject.

"Your own inability to do what is necessary for survival is what will hurt both of you, Harry Potter," remarked the robed figure as he lowered his hood, slit like red eyes visible.

Both Harry and Ginny sprang up, sweat rolling down their face, breathing heavily at what they saw.

"Just a dream, just a dream," remarked Harry.

"That thing was a bit too vivid to be just a dream!" snapped Ginny, but she shook her head. "Sorry Harry, it scared the hell of me, it said was a part of you…"

"The missing fragment," muttered Harry, so Ginny couldn't hear him, before he straightened up. "Ginny, I'm sure everything will be fine, nightmares can't hurt us."

"But…" commented Ginny but Harry leaned forward and kissed her to silence her, before he slightly pulled back.

"Everything will be fine Ginny, as long as we're together," said Harry as he pulled his bonded into a hug and kissed her once again. "Let's try to back to sleep."

"Yes, sleep, like that's going to be easy," replied Ginny, but she snuggled into Harry, as Harry wrapped his arms around her, but Harry did not fall back to sleep for quite some time, listening to Ginny's peaceful breathing for a while until he drifted back to sleep.


	10. Chapter 10: The Dragons' Rising

**Chapter Ten: The Dragons' Rising:**

It was just after sunset, as a van rolled down the streets of New York City. On the back of the van was a crate containing state of the art satellite communications equipment that had the power to override the signals of dozens of satellite's simultaneously. The van was close to its destination point, but a large truck had pulled out in front of it. The driver slammed on the breaks, skidding to a sudden stop, as the truck remained in the street. It was late and he had a deadline, so he honked on the horn angrily to get the truck in front of him to move.

At that moment, a group of masked thugs exited the building and one of them wrenched a crowbar into the truck, pulling it up. The driver froze, as one of the thugs removed the driver from the truck and tossed him out, before they climbed in the truck.

"The Master will be pleased with this take, it'll go for millions when we ransom it off," remarked one of the thugs, as the driver watched helplessly, as the truck pulled back, allowing the thugs to drive off with the truck.

"Help, police, I've been car jacked!" yelled the driver, as he ran down the street, waving his arms but a laser blast impacted him in the back, the driver dropping to the ground, silenced and thus all witnesses removed from this robbery.

Down in the lair, Harry was half watching the news, not really paying all that much attention to anything. As the news reporter concluded talking about the latest of a series of attacks over in Britain, a piece of news grabbed a hold of Harry's attention.

"This just in, another van containing high tech communications equipment has been hijacked," announced the news reporter. "The driver in charge of transporting the tech has been found on the side of the road a short time ago, in critical condition, with serious burns on his back. The police have yet to find any leads on these mysterious thieves, as this is the third such robbery that occurred during this past week. We will have more on this developing situation as it occurs."

"Purple Dragons," muttered Harry under his breath, just as Raph walked by, looking rather confused.

"Harry, I think high level technology is a bit too advanced for Hun," remarked Raph but Harry shook his head, remembering what he had learned from the previous meanings.

"They've been raising the stakes ever since the Foot have stepped out, besides, it might seem to be above them, but nothing's what it seems anymore," argued Harry, as the other three Turtles joined him. "I'm going to go see if I can find out exactly what is going on, at least."

"We'll come with you Harry," offered Leo and Harry just nodded, with an indifferent look on his face, as the Turtles and Harry left the lair. Hopefully, this night would prove to be useful, as they would have a much better idea about this series of high tech robberies.

In the Purple Dragons headquarters, Hun stood in the shadows, arms folded and a grin on his face, as his masked Purple Dragons walked forward, hauling the crates in, with a grunt, placing the crate in front of Hun, who nodded approvingly.

"You are certain you have disposed of the van, far from here?" inquired Hun and his Purple Dragons nodded in response, as Hun stood back in the shadows, a very pleased look etched upon his face. "Good, very good, there is no need for loose ends to be left behind, this city is ours and these geeks will pay anything to get their precious technology back, with all their hard work."

At that point, the view screen in the Purple Dragons headquarters crackled to life, revealing the face of Ruffington. Hun turned, acknowledging his associate's presence with a cool, calm nod.

"Hun, my sources have picked up word that another shipment from Neo-Tech will be sent out tonight, by the air to ensure further security," informed Ruffington but Hun just laughed at that.

"They really think they can stop us by going above ground, but we're not without our resources," remarked Hun, a glint in his eye, before he acknowledged Ruffington. "I thank you for the information Ruffington, you shall get quite a substantial cut for the information and if hear word of anything else that will interest me, you know where to find me."

Ruffington nodded, smug expression etched on his face, before his face disappeared, as Hun turned to his Purple Dragons, a greedy look in his eyes.

"Gentlemen, our business is not quite done for this evening, as another heist opportunity has come up," commented Hun. "Ready the helicopter, us Purple Dragons are going to fly tonight."

"Yes, Master Hun!" cheered the Purple Dragons in excited tones as they all made out, tonight they were going to continue their road to becoming rich.

Outside a ghetto, a shady looking young man with green spiked hair stood, looking rather shifty, as he flicked his switch blade in and out, but a group of four figures could be slightly seen in the shadows, causing the young man to tense up, before he stepped forward.

"Who's there?" demanded the young man in a terrified tone of voice, as he waved his switch blade tentatively, but Leo disarmed him by swiping his sword at in. The man dropped his switch blade and stepped back, but from above, Harry had grabbed him by the back of the shirt. Harry, on his broomstick, shot up into the air, and held the thug, dangling him up in the air. "What are you doing man, stop it, bring me down, I'm scared of heights!"

"Good, then maybe that will make you answer my questions quicker, scum," spat Harry, as he held the thug, letting him know that he was in control. "Are the Purple Dragons behind all of these high level technology heists?"

"Purple Dragons, what are you talking about, man?" demanded the thug, but Harry stared right into his face, his cold emerald green eyes staring a hole in the face of his adversary.

"Perhaps, you'd like to take it up with the pavement," said Harry coldly, as he teased dropping the thug, who screamed out in horror, before Harry pulled the man back, so they were face to face. "I've seen you before with the Purple Dragons, so don't play dumb with me. Talk, or they'll be scraping what's left of you off the pavement."

"Fine, fine, I'm not with them any more, but word on the street is that Hun's stealing technology, ransoming it off the company's he's stolen it from, making twice of what it's worse, it's an extortion racket, now let me down, I'm about ready to get sick," begged the goon and Harry signed, before he zoomed forward, right over the rooftop and dropped him hard. The thug landed with a pronounced thud on the rooftop and stared up at Harry, as he shakily got up to his feet.

"Beat it before I change my mind!" snapped Harry and the thug wasted no time as far away from his as possible, as Harry swooped down, before he placed his broomstick away, before he turned to his brothers. "Well, I was right, Hun's stealing it, only to sell it back at jacked up prices."

"Makes sense, can't see Hun being the technologically savvy kind of dude," agreed Mikey. "So what's there next move? Any ideas"

"Well, I heard rumors of a new technology shipment being shipped tonight from Neo-Tech," offered Don. "High tech stuff, no doubt priceless, worth millions, maybe billions, all together…"

"And Hun could be after it," added Leo. "Let's go, we need to get to their warehouse, maybe we can reach that location, before it gets shipped out."

The Turtles nodded, with Harry just shrugging, as they climbed into the Battle Shell. Leo drove off as fast as the vehicle could take them. It was a race against time to stop Hun from making off with all that priceless communications equipment, all in the name of putting even more ill-gotten gains in his pocket.

At the storing warehouse, guards were in the process of loading all of the equipment into a reinforced jet. So far, the cargo was only half loaded and it would take several more minutes to load. A forklift containing another large crate moved over, as the guard waved them over, but frowned at a humming nose, as a large truck crashed right through the gates.

"Fire, blow up their tires!" shouted the guard and his men fired their weapons, but the truck swerved off to the side, before several masked goons exited, withdrawing high tech laser weapons. Pointing the weapons and fire, the guards were backed off, their weapons completely obliterated in the process. The guards were then dropped with several more blasts of laser fire, no match for the high tech stolen weapons of the Purple Dragons, as a helicopter descended from the ground. Hun walked out, with several other Purple Dragons, looking rather pleased at the work his men have done.

"Excellent, load our truck with what hasn't been loaded on the plane," commented Hun to the team of Purple Dragons who have taken out the guards. "The rest of you will help me take the plane."

At that moment, the Battle Shell blasted forward, as Hun's eyes widened as large as dinner plates, as the top sprung open and out come the four Turtles, along with Harry, his face hidden by a scarf and bandanna. Quickly, Harry rushed forward, as the Purple Dragons aimed their laser blasters. A summoning charm removed their weapons and allowed the Turtles to rush in for battle. Don spun his Bo Staff and jabbed one of the Dragons in the chest. Another dragon swung at Don but Mikey quickly dove it. A vicious swing with his nunchucks cracked the Purple Dragon right in the face, dropping him to the ground. One of the Dragons picked up a large pipe and swung it, but Leo stepped in, used his katana to block the attack. Leo was pushed backwards, but Raph kicked the dragon in the back, dropping him to the ground. Hun turned around as Harry kicked him right in the chest, knocking the larger Purple Dragon backwards. Harry came down with the blade of his weapon pointed at Hun's throat, but Hun showed the agility he had for a big man by rolling out of the way and hoisting up a crate. He flung it at Harry, but Harry dodged, as the crate shattered to the ground. Harry came right back at Hun, managing to knock him back with an uppercut, before two of the Purple Dragons grabbed Harry by the arms, as a third one began punching Harry in the face as hard as possible.

"Hang on Harry!" yelled Raph, but one of the Purple Dragons had reclaimed one of the Federation blasters and fired right at Raph. Raph deflected the blast with his Sai and dodged around, before he threw his weapons towards the goon, impacting the blaster, before he rushed forward and knocked the Dragon down with a vicious punch right to the face, as Leo dodged a swung chain, before he sliced it to bits. Don catapulted himself in with the Bo Staff and both feet impacted the Purple Dragon in the face, knocking him loopy.

"Hold off the Turtles!" yelled Hun, before he waved over a trio of Purple Dragons. "You three, begin loading the truck, I'll take whatever's on the plane!"

Quickly, Harry flung both of the Purple Dragons that were holding them, they landed on their back with a sickening crack and the third Purple Dragon tried to punch Harry, but Harry blocked the punch. A look of pain was noticeable on the goon's face as Harry sprang up, before he grabbed the goon around his head. A loud crack could be heard, as Harry spun around and the Purple Dragon dropped to the ground, motionless and Harry's eyes narrowed slightly, as he saw Hun attempt to make a break for it.

"No you don't!" yelled Harry angrily, as he rushed forward, knocking one of the Purple Dragons down, as he made his way towards Hun but Hun just smirked, as he removed a cube shaped object, before pressing it. He flung it right at Harry and a large explosion flung Harry backwards. Harry hit the ground with a thud, but managed to pull himself up, blood dripping down from his leg. Much to his displeasure, Hun was already on the plane.

"Damn it, these Purple Dragons are a lot tougher than I remember," grunted Raph, as he pushed one of his enemies who had a crowbar back barely with his Sai, but Mikey cracked the Dragon in the back with the nunchucks knocking him down to the ground.

"Yeah, not bad for a bunch of common street thugs!" commented Mikey but one of the goons had flicked a dagger at a rope, holding a large weight object over both of the Turtles and Harry quickly rushed in, extending his hand out and levitated the thing high into the air, before he flung it harmlessly out of the way.

"Mind your surroundings guys, that thing could have squashed you!" yelled Harry in an agitated tone of voice as he watched the plane start up. "I'm going after Hun, I trust you four can handle these goons.

Without another word, Harry rushed off towards the plane, just as it took off. Quickly, Harry pulled out his Firebolt and mounted it. He kicked off, elevating high in the air, right towards that plane, as Leo was knocked down, with one of the Purple Dragons leaping down, a piece of wood extended but Don tossed his Bo Staff right towards the thug, knocking him out of mid air. Leo quickly sprung up, picking up his Katanas and slashed another pair of Purple Dragons in the chest, dropping them right to the ground, as they heard a truck stop up.

"Don't look now guys, but it seems those three goons are off with half of the tech!" shouted Mikey, as was pinned down to the ground, one of the Purple Dragons choking him with a pipe, but somehow, he managed to tuck his feet underneath the Dragon and flip him over onto his back. Mikey rebounded and the thug flopped right down to the ground, with a broken eye socket from suffering a nunchuck swing to the face.

"I'll stop them!" shouted Raph as his Sais spun towards the tires, but a well placed laser blast from a Purple Dragon off to the side had stopped that. Angrily, Raph rushed forward, ducking around the laser blasts, before he sprung up and grabbed the Purple Dragon by the shirt, before he slammed the Dragon down to the ground viciously.

"Battle Shell, before we lose sight of them!" shouted Leo in a frantic voice, and the Turtles rushed forward, climbing into the Battle Shell and zooming down street right after the truck.

Hovering above the stolen plane, Harry leaned down, before the hatch swung open. This simple motion allowed Harry entrance, the Boy-Who-Lived climbing inside, as he looked from side to side, casually, before he stepped forward, putting his Firebolt away.

"I'm sorry but this flight does not take too kindly to stowaways," commented Hun, the plane now put on auto pilot, as he walked into the cargo bay, staring down Harry with a cold look in his eyes, but Harry rushed forward and caught Hun with a vicious punch, backing him off. Hun swung at Harry but Harry ducked down and impacted Hun hard, before he blasted Hun backwards. Hun connected to the ground hard and Harry rushed him but Hun managed to dodge the attack of Harry, reaching into his pocket. Harry grabbed Hun but Hun stuck a stun gun right in Harry's chest. Harry recoiled in pain, as Hun quickly reared back his fist. A loud smack and Harry dropped to the ground, a bit dazed from the bulky fist of the leader of the Purple Dragons.

Hun walked over towards Harry and hoisted him up so they were face to face, before he flung Harry halfway across the cargo bay. Harry landed on the ground with a thud and Hun rushed over, before he caught Harry with a kick to the ribs, before he hoisted Harry up by the shirt.

"Don't ever learn, do you Potter, that you can't win, no matter what," growled Hun as he flung Harry, slamming him hard against the wall of the plane. "The Shredder may have been nothing but an alien parasite, but I would be a fool to not say that I didn't learn a few tricks from him. I've been preparing for our next meeting for some time and I know exactly how to deal with you."

Hun slammed Harry against the wall, causing blood to splatter, as a twisted grin appeared on Hun's face.

"I'm quite disappointed you didn't put up much of a fight Potter, what good's all your hocus pocus now?" taunted Hun as he slammed Harry down onto the ground, before he raised his arms high into the air. "Well, I better put you out of my misery once and for all…"

Hun raised his hands, preparing to deliver a crushing blow to Harry's skull but an invisible force rush and knocked Hun backwards, as Harry rose to his feet, mostly on adrenaline, before he effortlessly flung Hun across the cargo bay without touching him. Quickly, Harry rushed forward and Hun attempted to punch Harry, but Harry dodged that and jumped over Hun. Hun turned around and Harry leveled the large man with a kick right to the face. Another kick to the face, and Harry quickly flung Hun as hard as possible, denting the cargo bay door and Harry rushed forward. A magically enhanced punch knocked Hun right in the face, as the cargo bay door cracked before it broke open, Hun being sucked out. At the last minute, he grabbed Harry by the ankle, hanging on for dear life.

"Let go of me!" shouted Harry, as he attempted to kick Hun, but he only lost his balance and at the last second, he just barely managed to grip onto the edge of the plane, as several pieces of technology were blown out into the sky above, the crates breaking open, from the high air pressure from above.

"If I go down, I'm taking you with me, Potter!" yelled Hun, but Harry quickly kicked Hun in the face several times, loosening the large mans grip, but the plane began to pivot in mid air, turning several times and Harry lost his grip, causing both him and Hun to spiral from high above to the ground below from several hundred feet in the air, as Harry reached around, before he pulled out his Firebolt. It was ill-advisable to mount a broomstick when freefalling, but he could not think of anything else to do. Quickly, Harry was on the Firebolt and he shot down right towards Hun, he was damned if he let that bastard have such a quick death, after all the hell he put him and his family through, on the orders of the Shredder.

In the truck, one of the Purple Dragons looked over his shoulder nervously, seeing the Battle Shell coming up, right behind them and he turned to the driver.

"Step on it, those things won't let up," said the thug urgently.

"It's going as fast as I can, this stupid junker won't go any faster, hopefully the Master will buy a better getaway vehicle from all the money he's hoping to get from these heists," complained the Purple Dragon, as he reached forward, grabbing a communicator. "Dragon Team One, we need back up, the Turtles are chasing us right close to the drop off point."

"We see them coming, lead them through, we'll take care of them," responded the Dragon from the other end of the communication and quickly, they zoomed forward, now leading the Turtles into a trap, as opposed to shaking them off.

"We're right on their tails, step on it Raph, we've got them now!" shouted Leo but a rattle shook the Battle Shell, signaling that they had been rammed from behind. Another ram and Raph looked in the rear view mirror, as another truck, containing two more Purple Dragons were attempting to run them off the rode.

"We may be on their tail, but these punks are ours!" yelled Raph, as another ram came perilously close to flipping the Battle Shell over. "Hang on, this could be tricky, I'm going to try and outmaneuver these whack bags."

Meanwhile, the second truck containing the Purple Dragons backed up a few feet, before the driver slammed right on the gas and impacted the Battle Shell right in the back, putting a dent in it, as it was nearly knocked right off the bridge into the river below.

"Let's ram these bozos off the street!" cheered the passenger, as they allowed the vehicle behind them a little distance, so they could gain maximum impact.

"Yeah, ram em, ram em!" shouted the driver, as he prepared to slam on the breaks, but he looked up, much to his shock and astonishment, he saw his leader, his Master, Hun hurdling down towards the ground, right towards the truck, but at the last minute, Harry grabbed Hun and flew right towards the truck, forcing them to slam on the breaks abruptly.

"Hang on Master, we'll take care of that punk!" yelled the passenger as he exited the vehicle, but Harry caught him right in the face with a kick, dropping his opponent, before he blasted the driver's side door off of its hinges, before he pulled the driver out and heaved him right over the bridge. The Purple Dragon hung on for dear life, as his feet dangled, as Hun rolled off the hood of the truck, attempting to get away.

"Not today Hun, not ever again, this is the last heist you'll ever be pulling in this city," said Harry as he knocked Hun right in the jaw with a punch. Hun dropped to his knees, glassy eyed, as Harry flung him right down the street, Hun skidding on the pavement.

"Potter, let off, show mercy!" begged Hun, but Harry was in no mood for games, not today, as he rushed forward and knocked Hun right in the chest. Hun's knees buckled and he fell backwards, before Harry magically pulled Hun off the ground and sent him flying backwards

"The dozens of times you've willingly played a part in one of the Shredder's scheme to hurt my family, I don't think so!" shouted Harry, as he angrily knocked Hun backwards. A tooth fell to the ground, as blood poured from Hun's mouth. Hun crawled away and pulled out the stun gun, attempting to jab Harry with it again, but Harry avoided the attack, before wrenching the stun gun out of Hun's hand. Harry calmly dropped the weapon over the bridge, allowing it to drop to the ground but Hun viciously ripped one of the hub caps off of the truck tires, before he swung it right at Harry, cracking the Boy-Who-Lived right to the face.

"Turn your back on me for just one second and that's what you get!" shouted Hun, as he staggered, blood dripping from his mouth, a twisted scowl etched on his face. "You want a street fight Potter, you've bitten off a bit more than you can chew!"

Hun swung his fist but Harry dodged out of the way. Harry caught the arm on a second punch and twisted Hun's arm behind his back! Hun grimaced in absolute pain, before Harry pushed him down to the ground. Looking up, Hun was met with Harry's right foot right into his face. Bruises covered Hun's face. Indeed, Harry was taking every recent frustration out on Hun, as another equally vicious kick caught Hun right in the face, dropping the man mountain down. Hun rolled over and attempted to crawl away, but Harry sprung up and stomped on the back of Hun's head, driving his face into the ground.

"We've got them now, just a bit closer Raph," informed Leo, as the Battle Shell was almost on top of the truck containing the hijacked materials.

"Damn, those things are still after us!" shouted one of the Purple Dragons in the truck, but the third one rifled through the glove compartment, before pulling out a miniature laser canon and pointing right towards electrical power lines.

"This should slow those freaks down," said one of the Dragon savagely, as a large jet of solid blue energy erupted from the canon, impacted the lines and sliced them right in front of the Battle Shell.

"RAPH WATCH OUT!" yelled Don and Raph quickly slammed on the breaks, just barely able to stop the Battle Shell, before they would have met downed power lines. Helplessly, they watched the truck containing the hi-jacked technology roll off down the street and out of reach.

A loud thud shook the Battle Shell and the Turtles looked to see Hun laying in a crater on the street, with Harry stepping forward, an intense look etched on his eyes, dried up blood clinging to his face. Hun pulled himself up, blood splattering out of his mouth, but he collapsed forward, as Harry raised the blade of weapon, pointing it directly towards the top of Hun's head, as Hun collapsed in a futile attempt to get up.

"Harry, what do you think you are doing?" asked Leo, as the Turtles rushed forward, but Harry stared down.

"Making sure that Hun isn't a problem ever again, "remarked Harry, but Raph and Mikey grabbed Harry's arms, holding him back. "Let me go, this has to be done for…"

"For what Harry?" asked Don. "Harry, let the police take care of this."

"Yes I agree, you're heading down a dangerous path Harry, Master Splinter agrees as well, it'd be different it was Voldemort, but it's not, it's just a leader of a criminal organization, nothing that the police can't handle" commented Leo in a stern voice but Harry just responded by rolling his eyes.

"Yes, let's just send him to prison, where he'll be out in six months and back to endanger innocents with his heists!" snapped Harry sarcastically as Raph and Mikey continued to restrain them. "Really, that's the right thing to do, let me just fail at this too."

At that moment, a helicopter lowered down in front of them, and Hun used the fact that his enemies were distracted to hobble towards the helicopter, before he collapsed, the Purple Dragons pulling a rather battered looking Hun onto the copter, as Harry looked up, eyes narrowed. To say he was angered was an understatement, he had Hun right where he wanted him and he got away.

In the back of the Battle Shell, the Turtles and Harry returned to the warehouse, Harry sitting in the back, not saying one word. Had they talked about it, the Turtles would have come to a consensus that Harry's silence was a bit more unnerving then if he had shouted at them.

"Harry?" prodded Mikey in a tentative voice but Harry just slowly turned to them, as the Battle Shell stopped.

"You know what upsets me, the fact that we went out tonight and absolutely nothing got accomplished," commented Harry icily. "Keep going around in circles, every time we go out, we fight our enemies, but nothing ever changes, no matter how much we think we won and tonight, we didn't even win, we failed, against the Purple Effin Dragons of all people."

"Harry, we stopped them from getting half of the shipment," offered Don feebly but it was soon obvious that this was the wrong thing to say.

"THE HALF THAT WAS DESTROYED!" yelled Harry. "They got all that was intact; we failed, no two ways about it. For Salazar's sake, you four are supposed to protect me, I'm the younger brother, yet I constantly have to bail your shells out constantly, from things that shouldn't even have put you in peril. Ever since I killed the Shredder, the quality of your fighting has gone south, what the hell do you think this is, a bloody game?"

"Harry, I know you're upset because we stopped you from killing Hun, I don't know why you were so set on doing so, but ever since you lost to Voldemort, you've been acting funny, allowing your rage to consume you," said Leo slowly, choosing his words carefully. "We're all concerned that…"

"That what, that I'll turn into some power hungry tyrant that manipulates the world and all the people in it into his own idealized vision, because he thinks he can't save his loved ones any other way!" snapped Harry but the four Turtles recoiled, half thinking that Harry would curse them at that moment.

"No, of course, we know you'll never do anything like that," responded Leo as the others nodded in agreement "But still Harry, there's no need for you to feel that the well being of the entire world hinges on you."

"You're not always right, Leonardo," replied Harry in a cold voice, before he removed his double-edged sword and all of the other ninjitsu weapons from him. "Tell Master Splinter thanks for everything, but I'm not going to continue to practice the art of ninjitsu any more. It's too risky and I'll be damned if it happens again."

Harry dropped his weapons to the ground, before he retreated without another word, as the four Turtles sat transfixed, absolutely shocked as Harry's footsteps faded, before a pop could be heard as he disapparated.

"Whoa, dude, I can't believe Harry…" stated Mikey but for once, he was speechless.

"Yeah, only I go off on Leo like that," responded Raph. "Still, he's not wrong, about some things, we should have beaten those goons."

"Don't you start on me now Raph," said Leo in a warning tone of voice.

"We need to talk to Harry," said Don. "There's something bothering him, something bigger than failing to beat Voldemort…"

"I know, but you know what Master Splinter told us," commented Leo

"I know, I know, Harry's got to get through this on his own, we can only offer our support, but we can't force him to do anything," repeated Raph. "Still, I hope Harry comes around…"

"I do too, Raph," responded Leo. "But I do know one thing, whatever is haunting Harry is big and not something that he's going to get over in a matter of days. It will take time, a lot of time. Let's just hope Harry doesn't let it consume him before he has a chance to figure out how to get over it."


	11. Chapter 11:Things Nightmares Are Made OF

**Chapter Eleven: The Things Nightmares Are Made Of**

It was a windy day in the later part of November. A hell of a storm had been kicking up for quite sometime, splashing against the windows outside. The worst part is that it was rush out and the citizens of New York City had to drive in it. Hail began to come down just at this moment, making the driving conditions more perilous yet.

Harry sat high above the city in a clock tower, lost in his thoughts, not really paying all that much attention to the world around him. It had been a couple of weeks since his blow up and he had spent a fair bit of his time, deep in meditation. Truthfully, perhaps he had been under a lot of pressure lately and said some things to his brothers that he really did not mean, but considering what he had seen in an alternate reality, Harry felt that he had a good reason to be so upset. In time, he would perhaps apologize, but for right now, Harry needed to figure out who he was and how far he could go. The fact that Harry was not sure where he would go, was rather unnerving to say the least.

A loud clap of thunder broke Harry's concentration slightly, and he watched the lightning whip across the sky. The storm raged on but Harry concentrated hard, moving back to his meditation and seconds later, Harry could slightly feel his communication mirror heating up. He attempted to ignore it, just in case it was one of his brothers was trying to contact him. Harry simply was not ready to talk to them, not now at least.

"Harry, I know you're there and you're avoiding us, but please pick up, this is an emergency, we really need your help," echoed the voice of Leo from behind the mirror. "You can be difficult later, bro, but we need help."

Quickly, Harry removed the mirror for his pocket, if this was half as serious as Leo was playing it up as always. With a weary, but anxious look etched in his eyes, Harry faced his oldest brother for the first time since that nice.

"What's this emergency, Leonardo?" asked Harry in a calm, diplomatic tone of voice.

"The storm going on, has somehow caused the water to wash into the lair, flooding us out, it was so sudden, one minute we were sitting there and the next minute, the run off just swept in," explained Leo quickly. "We all got out, don't worry, but we have to find some place to go, until we can pump the lair out."

"Yes, you know you'll always welcomed to stay at the Potter Residence, all five of you," said Harry calmly.

"Of course Harry, we don't want to intrude, but it's only for a few days and perhaps you should know, that Master Splinter's also in a really bad way," said Leo in a grim voice and that caused Harry to almost drop the mirror.

"What, what's wrong with Master Splinter?" asked Harry, in a bit of concern appearing in his voice.

"Well, Don thinks he has a slight heart attack, his breathing is very shallow, it's lucky we were there to help him, because he wouldn't have made it out on his own," said Leo and Harry nodded. "We're at the warehouse, but the Battle Shell's uses as the keys and the remote to it were swept up in the flood as well."

"Stay right there, I'll figure out a way to get you there, tell Master Splinter to hang on, I'll be there as soon as I can," said Harry, as he quickly shoved the mirror away, putting away his fears about facing his family, because quite frankly, they needed his help and if Harry had been in that situation, they would have most certainly done the same for him.

A couple of moments later, Harry went through the alleyway that was the quickest point from the clock tower to the warehouse, but as he peered around the corner, his blood ran cold.

"No," whispered Harry, as he saw Leo, Don, Mikey, Raph, and Master Splinter dragged from the warehouse in iron shackles by some shady looking government agents. His entire family looked like they had been taken by surprise and subdued rather quickly. Clenching his fist, Harry leaned forward, in an attempt to listen in.

"These creatures thought they could evade us forever, but we proved differently when we flushed them out of their hiding place," remarked one government agents.

"Yes, these things, whatever they are, will be locked up for their role in the murder of Oroku Saki," added one of the governments, as the Turtles and Master Splinter were violently dragged away. Raph attempted to fight off his attackers, but a well placed cattle prod stalled the hot tempered reptile's attempts right in his tracks. "We'll find out what they are and their human associate will also be brought in for his role in the Oroku Saki murder."

Harry clenched his fists, before he slowly removed a shuriken, if he aimed his shot right, he could have caused a diversion and got them out of there. It was a small chance that it would completely succeed, but given the grave situation in mind, Harry had to do it. Harry held up the shuriken, but a hand grabbed him on the arm, stopping him. Quickly, Harry turned around but thankfully it was only Ginny standing behind him.

"Harry, I saw what happened on the Muggle news, they found the lair and they're after you next," commented Ginny breathlessly. "Thank Salazar I caught you in time, I saw a few people on the roof, no doubt they're expecting you to come to their aid."

"I can't leave without them, I have to do something to save them," said Harry and Ginny just grabbed his hand consolingly.

"I know and we will, we just got to step back until the heat's off just a little bit," said Ginny calmly. "Then we'll be able to easily save them, but right now, they look a bit too alert, don't you think?"

"Yes, Ginny, of course, there look like there leaving now, I think I can get a tracking charm on from over here," muttered Harry and he carefully aimed his hand, as his family was hauled in the back of the government van, as the agents began to set off one by one, as the vehicles drove off down the street. "Ginny, let's go, but be careful, some people might still be lurking around."

Ginny nodded in agreement, before the two carefully crept from the shadows, and Harry looked up. Sometime was off, there was a sudden inability to connect with his own tracking charm.

A dagger that sailed right towards Harry's head caught his attention. Narrowly, he avoided it, before he pivoted around, to see a small army of ninjas standing slowly moving around them. Ginny looked absolutely confused, but Harry recognized and feared what he saw.

"Ninjas, but they don't look anything like the Foot," muttered Ginny. "Harry?

"I know them, but explanations later, right now we're in for a hell of a fight," said Harry urgently, as one of the ninjas sprung into the air and aimed his sword down at Ginny's skull, but Harry quickly punched him out of mid air, causing him to go down to the ground. Ginny dodged an attack, before she swept the legs of her attacker out from underneath him, before Harry gave her a boost into the air, allowing her to come down feet first onto the head of both of the ninjas. One of the ninjas had swung its blade at Harry but Harry dodged, causing the assassin's blade to swipe against the wall. Turning around, Harry impacted his opponent in the face, before magically propelling him right at Ginny's opponent. Quickly, Harry flew right through the air with the greatest of ease, with a somersault and stuck it right to the side of his opponent. The assassin stabbed a staff towards Harry but he was blown off of his feet, as Harry watched Ginny summon her opponent's sword in the sheath right through his back.

One of the ninjas waved the others over, and they seemed to surround Ginny. Quickly, Harry sprung right in front of his girlfriend to help her fight her deadly adversaries back. Ginny flung one right into the wall, where Harry broke the sword of his opponent. A vicious kick shattered his opponent's jaw, sending blood everywhere. Ginny looked relieved but her eyes widened.

"Harry!" yelled Ginny, but it was too late, as a razor sharp arrow pierced Harry's hip! Harry winced, looking around for the assassin who attacked him, but dropped, blood splashing to the ground. Ginny quickly shot a spell forward, backing one of the ninjas off from Harry, before she caught Harry before he was to land on the ground. "Hang on Harry, I'm getting you out of here, you need medical attention badly."

"No Ginny, run, save yourself," said Harry in a bit of a delirious tone of voice from the blood loss but Ginny just ignored Harry, before she attempted to drag him off, his gimp leg dragging behind him. The ninjas stalked the two, but Ginny had one of Harry's exploding shurikens. As she helped Harry climb the ladder towards the roof, she flicked it downwards. It impacted the street, the explosion trigging a more explosive effect by hitting a gas line underneath the street, causing a massive explosion. "Good Ginny, a bit extreme, but at least we got them off their backs…"

"Don't speak too soon, Harry," said Ginny in a grim voice, as she spotted a trio of assassins, descending the roof, katanas at the ready, as they began to stalk the two.

Harry looked up, staggering forward, before he collapsed down, blood dripping from the wound he suffered. Quickly, he jabbed his hand down towards the roof, right where his would be attackers were standing. A rumbling sound and the ninjas crashed through the roof, landing hard. Ginny extended her hand forward and helped Harry to his feet, his leg buckling slightly.

"There will be more on the way, we need to go, now," muttered Harry and Ginny wasted no time in conjuring a grappling hook tied to a rope. She magically swung the rope, before it latched onto the rooftop adjacent from their position. Waving her wand, Ginny tightly wrapped the rope around the ledge. Quickly, she helped Harry over the ledge of the roof, as he climbed over, before grabbing onto the rope and began to climb over, hand over hand, to the other roof. This would have been much easier had he had his Firebolt, but unfortunately, they had to make due with more primitive methods of transportation. Ginny looked over her shoulder, to ensure the coast was clear, before she also copied Harry's movements.

From below, a malignant figure standing in the shadows watched as Harry and Ginny quickly made their way across. His wand was aimed, as he watched Harry safely pull himself to the building on the other side. With the Boy-Who-Lived across, the figure aimed his wand upwards.

Harry pulled himself up, as lighting whipped across the sky and he blinked, he could have sworn it stopped raining all together sometime around when he had left the clock tower. Before he could dwell on this much, Harry saw a slicing spell whirl through the air, towards the rope.

"GINNY, WATCH OUT!" yelled Harry urgently but the spell sliced the rope, causing it to snap. Harry lunged forward and reached for Ginny, but she plummeted out of his reach, screaming in terror as she fell. Harry watched in despair as he saw Ginny slam hard into the pavement. His heart sank as he saw blood splatter upwards from where Ginny had landed. Quickly, Harry leapt down from the rooftop before he ran as fast as his legs could carry him, right towards the motionless form of his beloved.

Harry reached down and gently rolled her over, she let out a very shallow breath, before she withered to the ground, not moving any longer. In numb shock, Harry cradled Ginny's form in his arm, his eyes widened in horror, not believing what he seen, his worst fear, his very worst having played out before his eyes but laughter, sickening, pleasured laughter, brought Harry out of his grief and he looked up, to see a hooded figure standing off in the distance.

"She died because of your inability to do what was necessary, hero," commented the hooded figure. "It was your fault and…"

Harry let Ginny down gently, before he rushed forward and punched this hooded figure with all the force he could muster directly in the face. The hooded figure dropped to the ground, his hood falling backwards, but he slowly rose to his feet, before looking right at Harry, who stepped back in absolute shock and a small amount of fear.

"That really won't bring her back," replied Nega-Harry in a casual tone of voice.

"YOU!" yelled Harry angrily, before he rushed forward to attack his evil counterpart from a mirror dimension, but he dodged the attack, and quickly grabbed Harry by the shirt, before he flipped Harry to the ground. Nega-Harry stepped back and charged forward, before he impacted a soccer kick right in Harry's ribs. Harry rolled over as Nega-Harry callously stood on the back of his downed adversary.

"Please, don't embarrass yourself," chastised Nega-Harry in a slightly bored tone, as he grabbed the back of the head of the benevolent version of the Boy-Who-Lived, forcing his face into the concrete. "As I was saying, before I was rudely interrupted, your inability to properly utilize your power caused the death of your beloved girlfriend. The same inability that allowed your brothers and sensei to be hauled off to a government agency, do you think the same thing would have happened in my dimension? No, of course not and you allowed Voldemort to take over, because you're weak."

"Why?" demanded Harry but Nega-Harry refused to let up on his grip of his foe for a second.

"Certain lessons needed to be imparted upon you, hero," replied Nega-Harry. "The fact remains that you allowed your enemies and the rest of the world far too my leeway, too much freedom, too much choice. You should have forced them under your foot, before Voldemort had become the problem he was. I just sped up the process of Ginny's demise, it was better off for her, she would have been killed or worse, by someone. It also served as a wake up call for you, that in the end, your way of handling your enemies and the world around you is a failure. You failed to save Daphne and Theodore and now Ginny was taken away from you, because of your utter inability to exert control."

Harry had heard more than enough. Quickly, he concentrated hard and managed to blast his adversary back. To his feet, he rushed forward, but his evil counterpart was on his feet. A punch was swung but it was deflected by his enemy. Another punch attempted from Harry was also avoid in a casual and quite bored manner. Spinning uppercut was blocked and Harry's arm was caught. A pained grunt left Harry, as his alternate mirror universe counter part twisted his arm. Seconds later, the young wizard and ninja was flipped to the ground. Harry staggered to his feet and Nega-Harry reached forward, wrapping his hands around the throat of Harry. In a blink, Harry was pushed right into a window. The glass shattered from the window, as he struggled for breath, with his counterpart trying to magically crush Harry's windpipe.

"So, one final lesson hero, you only brought the sorrow that you felt today upon yourself, but since I am fair and I just, I shall put you out of your misery," said Nega-Harry but Harry managed to pull a piece of broken glass off of his sleeve. He felt the air leaving him but in a flash, he stabbed his evil counter part directly in the right eye with the glass.

Nega-Harry staggered backwards, clutching his right eye, blood dripping to the ground, before Harry rushed forward and caught his covering opponent right in the face with a fist. Another blow knocked Nega-Harry backwards, but he rolled underneath, before he sprung up from his back, right over Harry. The hand was over the eye of Nega-Harry as he stood in a battle stance.

"I must admit, I didn't know you had it in you," taunted Nega-Harry. "So, let's settle this matter right now, wizard to wizard. Warrior to warrior. Man to man. Potter to Potter. To the death."

"If I'm going, you're going with me," said Harry, as he sprung forward, but his evil counterpart caught the leg, before he twisted it and slammed Harry against the ground. The benevolent Boy-Who-Lived pulled himself up, but was struck right in the face with a sickening kick. He fell to the ground, swelling over his eye before another kick impacted his face. Harry was lifted off the ground and flung magically into the wall. He looked up with a dazed expression and a lung puncturing curse just barely missed, he instinctively moved, before he flung a shuriken right at Nega-Harry. The malevolent Boy-Who-Lived lazily blasted it back at Harry, causing a small explosion to blow him backwards.

Quickly, he was pulled to his feet and Nega-Harry threw Harry hard right into the stone wall outside of a park. Harry rolled over, as blood dripped from the wall where he connected and he turned around, just in time to see his opponent's fist crash into his face. Rolling over, Harry fired a decapitating curse right at his opponent, but Nega-Harry tossed it aside, before he rolled forward. Harry slid out of the way but Nega-Harry turned around and impacted Harry right in the chest with a punch, just as he regained his bearings. The evil mirror counterpart would not let up, as Harry was flung up into the air, before he crashed down to the ground. Barely, he crawled over, catching sight of a dusty copy of the newspaper. The words looked rather scrambled and incoherent, not making sense at all but this mattered little, as Harry found himself having to dodge a vicious kick right to the side of his head. Quickly, Harry pulled himself back to his feet, before he flung a couple of smoke bombs to the ground, but the second they connected, his malevolent counterpart banished the smoke back into Harry's face.

Harry gagged, staggering back, blinded by the cloud of smoke and was blasted full force with a kick. The impact sent Harry into the park gates, breaking them open.

"Haven't you realized this yet, hero?" asked Nega-Harry in a bored tone of voice, as he reared back his wand before a burning curse was blasted towards Harry, who just barely managed to block it with a shield charm, but this was just a ploy to lower Harry's defenses for a kick to the face. "Everything you can do, I can do better, and everything you are unable to do because you are weak, I have perfected."

A large black bolt of magical energy blasted directly towards Harry. It sliced through his best shield and caused him to fly backwards right at the base of a statue. Harry struggled to breath, the impact was like getting struck in the chest with a moving van, as his evil counterpart rushed forward, in an attempt to skewer Harry with a sword made of pure magical energy. Instinctively, Harry dodged the attack and the sword vaporized the part of the statue where it connected. Harry dropped down and blinked. He could have sworn he saw the anxious, faint, face of Ginny in the distance, but a second later, he had not seen it. Nega-Harry moved forward and knocked him to the ground. Harry hit with a thud and his enemy attempted to smother the good Boy-Who-Lived. Quickly, Harry managed to use his feet to fling his opponent backwards. Gracefully Nega-Harry landed on his feet and in a blink of an eye, threw a dagger right at his counterpart. Harry was pierced in the right arm by the dagger and he winced, as his mirror counterpart rushed forward the attack. At the last second, the efforts of that assault was just avoided by the narrow of margins.

Both warriors stood face to face, with Harry favoring his right arm, but at least his leg injury had healed from earlier. He had little time to figure out how, as his malevolent counterpart rushed forward, katana drawn. Harry sprung out of the way and on top of the statue, favoring his arm. Nega-Harry followed suit, as Harry conjured a Kusari-Gama. Swinging the chain, the sickle end whipped forward. The katana deflected it backwards. Another chain whip and another deflection, but on the third whip, Harry flung it off to the side. The sickle stuck into the statue and Harry quickly jumped down, giving a mighty tug, pulling the statue over with Nega-Harry on top. The evil mirror counterpart bailed at the last second, avoiding going down, but Harry used the cover of darkness to circle around his opponent.

Spinning around, both versions of the Boy-Who-Lived stared each other down. Nega-Harry raised his katana and sprung up into the air at Harry, but Harry quickly removed a shuriken, tossing it at his opponent. His opponent attempted to deflect it with sword, which released a flame charm right into the face of Nega-Harry. The mirror evil dropped to the ground as Harry rolled forward, gripping a piece of concrete from the destroyed statue. An attempt to crush Nega-Harry's skull did not quite pan out, a cloud of acid was conjured and blasted right at the stone, eating right through it. Quickly, Harry regained his footing and shot a net made of razor wire wandlessly at his opponent. Effortlessly the effort was deflected, slicing the net into bits as both versions of the Boy-Who-Lived stood at a standstill.

Nega-Harry pulled his arm back and Harry quickly put a silencing spell, blocking out the heavy effects of the sonic vibration spell. Windows shattered, but Harry's hearing was unaffected but not his face as his twisted reflection kicked him in the face with full force. Then, the downed Boy-Who-Lived was hoisted up in the air and blasted backwards. With a thud, Harry just barely managed to cushion his fall and seconds later, a banishing charm sent him crashing to the ground. With a twisted smirk, his reflection hoisted Harry off the ground.

"No girlfriend to kiss it and make it feel better, hero," said Nega-Harry in a triumphant tone but seconds later, a vicious, magically enhanced kick, cracked the malevolent Boy-Who-Lived directly in the face, dropping him to the ground.

Incensed, Harry rushed forward and knocked his opponent backwards with a punch. Another punch was blocked and Harry's arm was shoved back, but quickly, he summoned a nearby axe towards him. With swift voice, Harry swung and his twisted distortion dodged the attack, the axe blade splitting off. On the rebound, Harry jabbed the axe handle into the chest of his enemy. He reared back and cracked the axe handle right across the head of his opponent. Nega-Harry staggered but before he rebound, the axe handle smashed directly into his skull again, dropping him to the ground. The wooden axe handle transfigured into a razor sharp sword and the Boy-Who-Lived prepared to eliminate the murderer of his beloved. The sword was just a split second away from coming down right in the skull of the ultimate mirror evil, but Harry stopped when he caught something rather interesting in his surroundings.

In an instant, Harry threw his weapon to the side, all the small inconsistencies of his environment tonight making sense.

"I see everything clearly, you're not the real architect behind what happened today," said Harry softly.

"What are you going on about?" asked Nega-Harry, as he pulled himself to his feet. "You had the chance to destroy me and you passed upon it. Perhaps seeing your girl's brains splattered on the pavement made you lose it, hero?"

"No, listen to me, what I've seen today, it's not what it seems," responded Harry, as he sat cross legged in front of his opponent. "Someone used horrific visions to shield what truly was happened, my true enemies have yet to reveal themselves."

"And what if you're wrong?" challenged Nega-Harry, as he raised a katana right over his head, but Harry did not move or blink.

"Then so be it," said Harry as he watched the sword come down into the top of the head, with the scene around him quickly becoming distorted, fading into oblivion.

Cyclones of pure mystical energy appeared around the area where Harry was sitting. Slowly, the young warrior opened his eyes, to see it was sitting in an astral projection of a field surrounded by a large mountainous region. At that moment, the five Foot Mystics began to slowly levitate from the ground, circling the Boy-Who-Lived. The each represented five elements, earth, wind, fire, water, and metal, as their staffs illuminated, as they floated above Harry.

"This one is more powerful than we had foreseen," commented the Water Foot Mystic.

"It matters little, he is only one against our five, there is no conceivable way he could beat us," said the Fire Foot Mystic in a forceful voice, as they aimed their staffs and sent multi colored bursts of light, representing their elements, with Harry dodging them, as the Foot Mystics circled around here.

"Nothing but a crude representation of reality, a vivid nightmare," muttered Harry, as he avoided being trapped in a water bubble, as they shot high powered bursts of mystical energy right towards him.

"Yes, but one that you can die in, as soon your heart will give out in the real world," taunted the Metal Foot Mystic but Harry just avoided his attacks. "There is no way you can defeat us, what could you do to fight our power?"

"Absolutely nothing," said Harry suddenly, as he sat down and began to meditate, as the Foot Mystics circled him. "It's mind over matter, this is my mind and in here you don't matter."

The Foot Mystics shot their mystical spells right at Harry, but a large dome shielded Harry from harm. The dome began to extend outwards, pushing the energy back towards the Foot Mystics. Their own magical energy reflected back towards them and all five gave anguished shrieks as they were promptly blasted from Harry's mind.

In the real world, Harry opened his eyes, finding that he was lying in his own bed. He felt a bit weak and feverish, as if he was recovering from a bad case of the flu. The first sight he was greeted with was the relieved face of Ginny and Harry felt relief wash over him. He knew she was safe when he figured that it was a nightmarish astral plane projection but still seeing it was nice.

"Hi Ginny," remarked Harry weakly.

"Harry, I'm glad you're safe, I thought for a moment you stopped breathing," said Ginny, as she clutched Harry's hand, almost afraid that he'd slip away. "I thought I lost you this time."

"I did too," answered Harry and Ginny looked at Harry curiously, but Harry quickly evaded the subject. "Exactly how did I get back there?"

"Well Lily, Hailey, and I were rather worried that you didn't return, so I decided to call you on the mirror, but there was no answer, I tracked you to the clock tower where I found you in a catatonic state," explained Ginny. "I got you back here, but no matter what we did, we couldn't snap you out of your state."

"You nearly did, I saw your face within the nightmarish visions that I had to fight," said Harry. "The Foot Mystics nearly destroyed me, lucky I managed to put everything together in time."

"Foot Mystics?" exclaimed Ginny in an absolutely mortified voice. "The Foot…but the Shredder's…"

"I know, Ginny, he is and I'm as confused by this as you are," replied Harry in a weary voice. "Be ready for anything, if they can do this much damage on a mystical level, who knows what the Foot's next strike will be like."

Meanwhile, in a temple deep within the recently reconstructed Foot Tower, the five Foot Mystics watched Harry and Ginny from a mystical window, before they dropped it, just as the doors of the temple were forced open.

"Fools, another failure!" thundered the voice of the adopted daughter of Oroku Saki, Karai stalked in, to face off against the Foot Mystics, who just turned to face their employer.

"Mistress Karai, we were unable to destroy the one known as Harry Potter as you intended, but we managed to location useful information from the boy's mind for our next assault," announced the Fire Foot Mystic.

"And yet, you recklessly revealed your presence to Potter!" snapped Karai, as she glared at the Foot Mystics.

"The Shredder had more respect for our powers," said the Water Foot Mystic.

"I don't respect you and I certainly do not fear you," said Karai shortly, as she removed a silver pendant, waving it front of the Mystics. "As long as I have the Heart of Tengu, your magic is mine to direct as I see fit."

"Yes Mistress Karai, we serve whomever holds the Heart of Tengu," chanted the Five Foot Mystics dully.

"And I have no further need for your parlor tricks, as the next time I attack, it will surely not be an illusion," continued Karai, as she held up her right arm, which was adorned with the gauntlet of the Shredder. "I will hunt down those who murdered my father and they will all pay with their lives."


	12. Chapter 12: Tale of Master Yoshi

**Chapter Twelve: A Tale of Master Yoshi**

Harry looked around, having arrived in Japan. The circumstances that brought him here were through a series of strange and quite fragmented visions gathered through meditation. They contradicted what Harry had planned for his life, that he would never go back to face Voldemort, but now, Harry was filled with doubts about that. Haunting voices about being condemned to a horrible life, but Harry just wished to clear this up. Something in the vision hinted that Master Splinter even might not be able to help him sort out what they meant, so Harry had to go to someone who had more experience in such matters. The Sensei of Master Splinter's Master Yoshi, the mysterious wise and somewhat eccentric old man, known simply as the Ancient One. Harry had met this man once before when he was eight years old and needless to say, the meeting stuck out quite vividly.

Harry had been traveling for several days now, it would have been much easier to do so by magic, but due to security reasons, the American Wizarding Government had banned all magical travel in and out of the country for the foreseeable future. Still, Harry did not as mind as much most in his position was, it gave him some time to reflect on what he saw and perhaps be ready to understand what wisdom the Ancient One would throw at his way. Harry threw his Slytherin scarf over his face, shielding it from the effects of the blistering winds. As he moved his way down the snowy paths and putting a warming charm on his cloak to further shield himself from the weather, but stopped suddenly, to the sounds of thunderous foot steps. Throwing himself out of the way, Harry looked up to see a large snow creature, commonly referred to as a yeti, approaching him, bellowing madly, causing snow to drop down. Harry stepped back, thinking quickly, because the beast may start an avalanche

"Who dares pass?" bellowed the yeti in a growl and Harry stepped back, ready to battle should things get dangerous, but not wanting to take that particular path against a magical creature that the only thing larger than it was a giant.

"I, Harry Potter," commented Harry in a calm voice but the yeti considered Harry through its ice cold eyes.

"Why do you wish to pass young one?" demanded the yeti in its rumbling voice and Harry stole an anxious look at the large mounds of snow on the mountain to his side.

"I need to see the Ancient One," said Harry as patiently as he could manage, but even with the heating charms he had put on his clothing, the cold weather was still particularly blistering.

"And what makes you worthy to see the Ancient One?" challenged the yeti.

"Look, I don't have time for these games, just let me through, this is an emergency," said Harry as he removed his double-edged sword but the yeti just stared at him, with a mixture of amusement and disbelief.

"So, you think you can fight your way past me, little man," said the yeti, before it gave a thunderous laugh. "Especially with that little blade, I've used bigger toothpicks than that, you're a failure it appears."

Harry charged forward, but the yeti extend his hand forward, smacking Harry in the forehead, dropping him to the ground in a swift movement. Pulling himself up, Harry gritted his teeth and blasted a stunning spell at his opponent, but it had no effect. Harry pulled himself up and attempted to attack the yeti but the yeti just shoved Harry to the ground lightly, before laughing.

"Think young one, you need to find a way to pass, but to win, you must learn from your failures and turn them into successes," commented the yeti and Harry pulled himself up to his feet, before he bowed towards the yeti.

"Please allow me to pass," said Harry graciously, feeling stupid, but this was the only thing he could think of that did not involve an attack, all of which had failed spectacularly and amazingly, the Yeti stepped aside. Harry took a few steps forward, knowing fully well that this could be a trick. He continued to walk down the path and over his shoulder, Harry watched the magical creature return to his cave. Shrugging, Harry continued walking, situations like this, it was important not to ask questions, because the more Harry learned, the less he understood in cases like this.

Harry walked down a winding path, he knew the Ancient One's home was not that far from here and sure enough the long winding path lead to the very familiar home. It was a bit more run down then Harry remembered, but there was no mistaken where it was. Walking towards the door, Harry raised his hand to knock, but the door blew itself open. Raising an eyebrow, Harry entered, walking cautiously down the hallway. He sensed that someone was here but whether or not it was the Ancient One remained to be seen.

"Do come in, Harry-san," commented the very familiar voice of the Ancient One, as Harry approached the door leading to the next room and opened it, walking towards the Ancient One, a rotund old man who was at least ninety years old. "It's been a long time since we have last met, but I can see it in your eyes that you have a pressing concern that might need my expertise. Do sit down, make yourself at home, and we shall chat."

Harry did as he was told as the Ancient One regarded him, surveying him.

"I can see much turmoil, the need to be the best, to never fail, has manifested itself again, but it's much stronger than it was last time, an almost obsession compulsion to do so," commented the Ancient One. "Now, ambition can be good, but it can be a bigger weakness, you've nearly isolated yourself from everything and that can only lead to you being stuck in a situation that no one can bail your butt out of when you get in over your head. No one to pull you back, so far you've managed to get by with luck but continue on like this, you would get in a situation that even you can't force your way out of. You think you have to bear the weight of the world on your shoulders, but many have before and they were crushed."

"So you think that I should just accept that the fact I kept failing," said Harry.

"Failure is a part of life, a big part in many instances, but your failures should not be the end of everything," said the Ancient One. "Surviving can be a success in itself, but since you have a glass half empty world view of like, let me put this another way. Your failures should be analyzed and learned from, but at the same time, never failing is counterproductive to any success. A warrior who never fails, never learns and in the end, after all the successes, the fall is bigger than any small failure that can be learned from."

Harry just sighed, it made sense, he guessed.

"I suppose you're right, but I've been having these visions, some take sort of make sense, but others that make little sense at all," said Harry.

"Visions never truly mean what you think they mean," remarked the Ancient One wisely. "Describe them as best you can, and in time, there might be something productive that can be gathered through the misdirection."

"Well one slightly recurring vision involves the Shredder," said Harry and the Ancient One's eyes snapped up towards Harry. "He attacks my family and my friends, but not with the normal ninjitsu attacks, but with magic, really powerful dark magic. I've fought Voldemort far too often and the magic the Shredder cast in that dream may have been slightly more powerful than what Voldemort gave off. Yet, I killed the Shredder and he's never given the slightest indication that he has the ability to perform magic. So I just wonder if my subconscious is combining elements from my past into one being, to attempt to guilt trip me into giving up on fighting Voldemort?"

"Possible, but I suspect more sinister forces may be at work," muttered the Ancient One under his breath, more to himself, than to Harry. "If it's begun, then they are mobilizing…"

The Ancient One trailed off, when he realized that Harry was sitting there, a curious expression on his face.

"Forgive me Harry-san, I tend to trail off the subject on occasion," said the Ancient One. "I'm certain that sooner or later, the pieces of the vision you detailed will be clearer, but right now, I am not at liberty to give speculation. Now, anything else that you could describe that may clear up the confusion."

"The recurring dreams about Voldemort and the whispers of me failing, but I think we've more than adequately discussed what that means," commented Harry.

"Yes, this could be a battle between your distaste of defeat but a need to prove yourself by beating Voldemort, combined with several factors," said the Ancient One. "Now, Harry, I'm certain you're going to ask me what you should do, but in this case, no one can accurately answer that question other than yourself. If you rely on the influence of others, you will crash at all times and would be doing a disservice to yourself. However, that's not to say that there is not much to learn when you are here. I suspect that I have knowledge that you may find useful and will allow you to decide what path your life will take when you return home."

"No, there is no need for you to do that, no doubt you have other more pressing things to do then you waste time with me," said Harry, but the Ancient One shook his head.

"You'd be surprised how little there is to do here, so perhaps now's the time to impart knowledge to another, knowledge that not even your Master Splinter knows," replied the Ancient One. "Not his fault, Yoshi chose a different path in life, and that, coupled with his premature death, prevented me from completing his training to a satisfactory level. Of course one may argue that the training in life is never completed, as there is much to learn, to see, and to do."

Harry nodded, he would have to agree with that statement.

"In fact, the story of my prized pupil and adopted son, Hamato Yoshi is one that I trust that you would gather much from, Harry," said the Ancient One. "It illustrates mistakes can be made, even with the wisest of us, not everyone is meant to be trusted. Much with all stories, it would be a prudent idea to start at the beginning. It was in the early 1950s, this country was just recovering from the second world war and that's when I came across two boys orphaned after the war."

_It was Japan, circa the 1950s. Two young boys, about ten or eleven in age, walked down the street, dressed in ragged clothing. One was dressed in blue, his name was Hamato Yoshi. The other was dressed in red, with a salad bowl hair cut, with a bit of a scowl on his face, named Yukio Mashimi. They walked down the street, seeing a younger version of the Ancient One, with slightly graying hair, walking down the street. In his haste, the Ancient One accidentally dropped a coin, as he walked off. Quickly, Mashimi walked forward, a greedy expression in his eyes, as Yoshi followed him, looking at the coin, but Yoshi grabbed his arm. _

"_Wait, that man accidentally dropped the coin, we should return it to be," said Yoshi and Mashimi looked absolutely irritated. _

"_C'mon Yoshi, how much is he going to miss one coin?" asked Mashimi but Yoshi walked forward, ignoring his friend's protests._

"_Hey, sir, excuse me, you dropped your coin!" called Yoshi in an boisterous voice and the Ancient One turned, before acknowledging Yoshi. _

"_Ah thanks young one, I had thought I was missing something," replied The Ancient One graciously, as he retrieved the coin with a nod of his head. "Tell me what is your name?"_

"_Hamato Yoshi, sir," answered Yoshi as Mashimi stood by his side. "And this is my friend, Yukio Mashimi."_

_The Ancient One surveyed the two boys with interesting, before nodding with a smile. _

"_Tell you what, if you can manage to get the coin from my grasp somehow, you can keep it," said the Ancient One as he held his hand out forward, the coin in it. _

"_No problem, I'll get it for us, Yoshi," muttered Mashimi as he reached forward, but Ancient One clasped his hand shut, causing Mashimi to become frustrated. Ancient One extended his hand forward, with the coin and Mashimi made one more desperate grab, but Ancient One clasped his hand shut again. Once more, he put his hand out but much to his surprise, the coin was not there._

_The Ancient One turned and Yoshi revealed that he had managed to snatch the coin from the Ancient One's grasp._

"_Very good then, Yoshi," commented the Ancient One with a smile. "How would you like to come to my home and get something to eat?"_

"_Can my friend come too?" asked Yoshi, with a sideways hopeful glance at Mashimi and the Ancient One gave Mashimi a searching look, before giving a nod, before motioning for the two boys to follow him._

"On that day, I took the two young boys to my house, training them in the art of ninjitsu," narrated the Ancient One. "Now, I must admit, I had my reservations about Mashimi, but I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, for Yoshi's sake at least."

The Ancient One's eyes narrowed and Harry suspected that he would find out why all too soon.

"I trained them for several years, I watched them grow from young boys into men and into great fighters, Yoshi more so, but Mashimi was talented in his own right," continued the Ancient One. "Their abilities were not the only thing blossomed, but love also blossomed as well. That would have been good, if not for the reason that they fell in love with the same girl."

"Oh boy," commented Harry.

"Indeed, as I had brought in a third orphan, who was a help in maintain the house, named Tang Shen, whose father had been a friend of mind, but Tang Shen's family were murdered in their own home," said the Ancient One. "I never solicited her help, but I appreciated it all the same, as it allowed me to focus on the training of my two pupils as well."

_In the kitchen, a small grey rat poked its nose curiously from behind the counter, sniffing around for food. The rat weakly scurried from the behind the counter, as Tang Shen, Yoshi, and Mashimi, now in their early twenties, were in the kitchen. Mashimi looked at the rat with a notable distaste and picked up a butcher knife, before he advanced on it._

"_Out of here, you filthy vermin," said Mashimi in a forceful voice and Tang Shen looked up fearfully, as she spotted Mashimi stalk the poor rodent, who looked rather fearful. _

"_Mashimi, no!" shouted Tang Shen and Mashimi turned around. "The poor thing's done nothing to you, it's obvious that it just wants food."_

"_Yes, Mashimi, I think you've overacted a little bit," added Yoshi as he looked at the rodent, who sniffed the air hopefully. "It looks like it's just like us, with nowhere to go, looking for a place, like we were so long ago."_

"_Maybe," replied Mashimi doubtfully, as he watched Tang Shen feed the rat. "But, it looked like a filthy vermin to me?"_

"_Mashimi, remember what the Master has told us, we cannot rely solely on what we see," said Yoshi in a patient voice and Mashimi just nodded in agreement, acknowledging that Yoshi was correct on this point. _

"Time went on, but one night, everything went wrong, it was the beginning of the end," narrated the Ancient One with a slightly bitter tone. "When walking through the town, Yoshi and Mashimi ran across a man that was being attacked by the sinister forces of the Foot."

_In the village during that time, Yoshi and Mashimi came across, seeing the man, who was in reality the Utrom known as Mr. Mortu, in disguise, being stalked by the Foot. Mortu backed off. _

"_Mashimi, that man is defenseless, we must help him!" yelled Yoshi and Mashimi nodded in agreement, as he watched the man get knocked down with a sword stab. Quickly Mashimi recklessly rushed forward and knock the Foot Ninja down to the ground. Yoshi blocked the sword swipe of another ninja and busted his weapon, allowing Mashimi to take the assassin down to the ground._

_A pair of ninjas rushed forward, but the teamwork of Yoshi and Mashimi managed to fight them off, as Mortu pulled himself up, to watch the two young warriors fight off the Foot. Several ninjas were dropped, before the two young men walked forward, to help Mortu up to his feet. _

"_Are you alright?" asked Yoshi in a concerned voice, but Mortu's eyes widened, as he spotted a Foot Ninja coming up behind Yoshi, blade drawn._

"_LOOK OUT!" warned Mortu and he pushed Yoshi out of the way, the blade slicing his arm. The arm of the exosuit was viciously removed from the attack and Mashimi knocked the ninja back, causing him to crack into a wall, as the two young men looked in awe at Mortu, as sparks shot out of his arm where the ninja had severed it._

"This of course inspired questions within my two pupils, questions that they were tempted to have answered no matter what," said the Ancient One. "Mortu gave them a choice, either remain ignorant of what happened on that day or answer their questions by joining the Utroms as guardians."

"Something that I can see you disapproved of," prompted Harry and the Ancient One nodded before continuing his tale.

"_No, I forbid it, I absolutely refuse to allow you to do this," said the Ancient One sternly, as Mashimi and Yoshi._

"_But, Sensei, this our chance to do some good…" stated Yoshi but the Ancient One cut him off._

"_Perhaps, but this is not the path that you should take, it may lead you to a situation that even you, either of you, could fight yourself out of," remarked the Ancient One. "I understand that you may feel that this is what you want, but truly, this is the worst thing for you, working as guardians."_

"_Look, Sensei, we aren't children anymore, I think we are capable of making our own decisions," argued Mashimi but the Ancient One just looked at them calmly, without any expression on his face._

"_Are you?" asked the Ancient One. "I believe it would be foolish to take the path that you would but do admit that there is little to nothing that I would be able to do to stop you. You should just know that joining the Guardians may lead you down a twisted path that will change your life forever Still, if you are well aware of the risks, then it is your choice."_

_The two nodded, but truthfully they did not truthfully head the Ancient One's advice to the fullest extent, believing that he was overacting about the entire situation. _

"So despite by reservations, Yoshi and Mashimi joined the Guardians, to serve and protect the Utroms," said the Ancient One. "Yoshi took to this new path more than Mashimi did, raising all the way to the highest available rank. Despite the fact that Yoshi seemed to have rose several levels past Mashimi, Mashimi was willing to be supportive towards him, at least outwardly. Naturally, this all changed due to Tang Shen."

The Ancient One paused before continuing.

"Now while both young men had fallen in love with her, she only had eyes for one and that was Yoshi," said the Ancient One seriously. "This was the thing that drove Mashimi over the edge to madness."

_Mashimi watched Tang Shen and Yoshi kissing in the rain from behind a tree, eyes narrowed. How dare Yoshi steal her away? They were supposed to be friends. He could deal with being below Yoshi in the guardian ranks but stealing the girl he loved was pushing it. Yoshi leaved, as Mashimi with drew a katana in anger. If he could not have her, than no one could. Tang Shen remained outside as Yoshi had left and Mashimi crept out of the bushes, weapon in hand. She turned around and gasped, before relaxing when she realized it was Mashimi. _

"_Ah, it's only you Mashimi, you scared me for a minute," said Tang Shen in a relieved voice but she screamed when she saw Mashimi advance on her with the sword. _

_The Ancient One sat inside in meditating, the grey rat by his side in a cage, when his eyes snapped open to the screams of Tang Shen. As fast as he could manage, The Ancient One rushed outside, pushing open the doors of his home and bolted towards the sounds of the screams. He stopped, eyes widened as he saw Tang Shen lying on the ground, her clothes slightly torn and blood dripping from a gash from her throat. _

"_No," muttered the Ancient One in a horrified voice, as he kneeled down, eyes widened at the slain form of Tang Shen. _

_At the Utrom headquarters in Tokyo, the guardians were in the midst of a training exercise, with Yoshi leading them, but at that second, a series of Foot Ninjas crashed through the window. The Utroms looked around, fearful, at the new arrivals, as they threw smoke bombs at the ground, before they rushed forward and engaged the guardians in battle. The smoke cleared and the Shredder emerged, casually knocking a guardian to the ground who attempted to attack him. Several of the other guardians attempted to get the Shredder, but the Foot fought them off. Another figure walked behind the Shredder, a smug expression etched on his face, as he wore a Foot uniform, minus the mask. _

"_Mashimi you betrayed us!" yelled Mortu in a surprised voice, as Yoshi looked up, horrified that Mashimi had betrayed the Utroms and to an extend him. _

"_Mashimi, why?" asked Yoshi._

"_As if you need to know, after what you've done to me," said Mashimi in a disgusted tone of voice. "All of our lives, you've always been one step ahead of me and now I have you."_

"_Everyone to the escape pods, evacuation protocol nine this is not a drill!" yelled Mortu as the exosuits rushed forward, moving towards the escape pods, as the guardians managed to back off the Foot, before they followed. Yoshi stared at Mashimi, who motioned for him to come forward. "Hamato Yoshi we are leaving."_

"_Stop them, do not allow them to escape!" thundered the Shredder, as Yoshi joined the rest in the escape pods, that shot up out of the TCRI building and as a result, he turned slowly to Mashimi, who backed off a few steps in fear at the look that the Shredder was giving him. "Mashimi, you did not inform me of this method of escape, I was under the assumption that there was no way out."_

"_Master please, I was unaware that it had existed," begged Mashimi fearfully. "I won't make the same mistake again, I swear on my life."_

"_Yes on your life," repeated the Shredder chillingly, staring coldly at Mashimi. _

_Yoshi arrived back home and was greeted by the horrifying sight of the slain form of Tang Shen, who had been covered up by the Ancient One. _

"_I am sorry, my son," said the Ancient One in a somber voice. "I did not arrive to save her in time…"_

"_It is not your fault, Mashimi was the one who did this, he lead the Shredder to an attack on the Utrom Headquarters," said Yoshi in a somber voice. "And now there is something I must do now, to set things right, to teach Mashimi a lesson."_

"_Mashimi's potential for darkness was evident, but I did not trust my instincts," said the Ancient One darkly, as he held up the cage containing the rat, more for something else to look at while he talked. "Still, Yoshi, do not allow yourself to be corrupted by this need for revenge. Revenge is like a splinter, if not properly healed, it will infect every part of you. Just remember this when you do what you feel is necessary."_

_Yoshi nodded, before he walked off, the Ancient One watching him leave, fully knowing that this entire matter was out of his hands. _

"Yoshi tracked down Foot Headquarters and despite knowing that he would be outnumbered severely, somehow, he managed to fight his way up, the only thing on his mind was revenge on Mashimi for his betrayal," narrated the Ancient One.

_The doors of the Shredder's throne room burst open and the Shredder looked down, seeing one of his Foot Ninjas flying inside. Another ninja was draped over the shoulder of Hamato Yoshi as he entered. The ninja was dropped to the ground, as Yoshi looked up at the Shredder, with an intense look in his eyes. _

"_I've come for Yukio Mashimi!" cried Yoshi, as he withdrew a katana, looking ready to battle but the Shredder remained unmoving from his throne, before he turned slightly. _

"_Mashimi, forward," said the Shredder curtly and Mashimi stepped forward, with a scowl on his face, as he stared down Yoshi. _

"_I am here to challenge you to a duel, assassin," said Yoshi in a forceful voice which Mashimi just laughed off, looking rather amused by Yoshi's challenge. _

"_A duel, ha, this time you've ignorantly stepped into the dragon's den, Yoshi," replied Mashimi. "There is no reason for me to fight you alone, to get to me, you have to fight the entire Foot clan."_

"_That is where you are mistaken, Mashimi," said the Shredder coldly. "For your failure at the Utrom base, you will stand alone, with no help from my Foot Ninja."_

_Mashimi's mouth opened wide, in shock, he had assumed that he would not have to face Yoshi alone, but now the Shredder forced his hand._

"_Kill Hamato Yoshi and I will forgive your misinformation, kill Yoshi and you will be allowed to live," commented the Shredder darkly and as a result, Mashimi withdrew his weapon, before he locked eyes with Yoshi, the two warriors circling each other, both wanting to prove something, but for drastically different reasons. _

"_So here it comes Yoshi, it started with the two of us and tonight, it will end with just the two of us," commented Mashimi as he rushed forward but Yoshi blocked his sword swipe, backing Mashimi off. Mashimi attempted to stab Yoshi but Yoshi avoided it, before he snuck behind Mashimi, but with great reflexes, Mashimi blocked an attack from Yoshi. _

"_That's where you are wrong, Mashimi, it will only end with one of us," commented Yoshi as he attempted to disarm Mashimi, but Mashimi blocked the shot and a swing had knock Yoshi's sword from his hand. Yoshi staggered backwards and Mashimi grabbed Yoshi, before throwing him down to the ground. Mashimi launched himself up and extended the sword downwards, but Yoshi rolled out of the way, causing Mashimi to stab the ground. Yoshi quickly reclaimed his sword and both warriors stood face to face. _

_In the blink of the eye, both Hamato Yoshi and Yukio Mashimi jumped into the air, weapons drawn. Both men slashed at each other, and were knocked backwards. Yoshi landed to his knees, slightly wounded but he managed to cut deeper, as a nasty gash appeared on Mashimi's chest._

"_Yoshi, forgive me," breathed Mashimi as blood dripped to the ground, before Mashimi collapsed, with a wounded Yoshi pulled himself to his feet, barely able to stand. _

"_Capture the guardian, he will be able to take us to the Utroms," ordered the Shredder as the Foot advanced on Yoshi, weapons drawn, but Yoshi's eyes flickered up towards the windows behind the Shredder's throne. Quickly. Yoshi sprang up, aiming his foot right towards the Shredder's face as he threw himself towards the windows. Instinctively, the Shredder ducked and Yoshi crashed himself through the windows. He managed to steady his fall as he splashed into the water below, the Shredder looking down with distaste as Yoshi had slipped through their fingers and their ticket to tracking down the Utroms was eliminated. _

"Yoshi managed to escape the Shredder on that night, but his life was never the same," concluded the Ancient One in a dismal voice.

_Yoshi walked forward, shoulders slumped, towards the Ancient One. The cage containing the small grey rat was in Yoshi's hand, as he looked down at the Ancient One._

"_I have to go," said Yoshi quietly._

"_I know," replied the Ancient One. "Despite the dreams of a foolish old man, your path must take you in a different direction than I intended to take you, Yoshi. Good luck my son."_

_Days later, Yoshi arrived in New York City, walking to the recently constructed TCRI building, the caged rat with him. Yoshi bent down, holding up the cage to address the rat._

"_Well little one, I will name you Splinter and together we will remind each other of Tang Shen, about her beauty, about her kindles, about her love," said Yoshi as he address the pre-mutated version of Master Splinter, as Mr. Mortu walked outside, to escort Yoshi into the building and to his new life. _

"And I believe you know all too well what happened from there Harry," commented the Ancient One and Harry nodded. "Still, as saddening as that story is, it does bring about an interesting point of how fate works. If those events had not transpired, you would not be sitting before me hearing this tale."

"Because the Utroms would not have had a reason to flee to New York, neither would Yoshi, so there would be no mutagen and there's a chance that no one would have found me when Dursley had abandoned me," summarized Harry.

"Perhaps, it does raise some interesting questions, one's that I'd suggest you think about more thoroughly after a good night's sleep," said the Ancient One. "As there is much more that can be learned."

Back in New York, Ginny leaned outside the window absent mindedly, on Christmas night, wishing that Harry had been there, but understanding what he felt he needed to do. When Harry came home, no matter what place he took in life. She felt frustrated, had been there to help Harry so many times, but now Ginny felt as helpless as Harry did, even though he did not acknowledge. It all tied back to Voldemort, he ruined Harry's life, no matter how much Harry refused to acknowledge the existence.

A knock on the door brought Ginny out of her thoughts.

"Come in," said Ginny in a hoarse voice and she watched Lily enter the ring.

"Are you okay Ginny?" asked Lily in a concerned voice.

"I'm fine," said Ginny shortly.

"It's amazing how much you sound like Harry when you say that," replied Lily.

"It's Christmas, he should be here with us, not in some desolate part of Japan!" yelled Ginny, losing her temper. "What has happened to Harry?"

"I wish I knew, I have a feeling he's been off a bit longer than the Voldemort thing, even longer than Daphne and Theodore's deaths," said Lily and Ginny looked at Lily curiously. "From the inter-dimensional trip, Harry was sent to another world by the combination form of the Daimyo's son and Drako, along with his brothers, scattered through dimensions. Every time one of them mentions it, Harry steers clear of the subject."

"Harry's never mentioned it to me," said Ginny in a hushed voice. "Where could have been sent that has caused him to be avoid mentioning it?"

Lily shrugged, she was concerned about Harry.

"We don't know when he'll be back or what state of mind he will be when he returns," said Lily. "I just hope everything's back to normal."

"I do to," remarked Ginny quietly, before muttering. "Harry, I love you, no matter what you decide to do, and I'll be with you."

Ginny stared at the window, her entire family with the exception of Ron had been trapped in Britain by Voldemort and Harry had went on a journey to get some answers, making this the most dismal Christmas of her life. She awaited Harry's return but knew that he would come back with a renewed sense of determination to fight Voldemort. That part she dreaded, but perhaps it would be for the best and Ginny resolved that Harry needed her support more than her worries.


	13. Chapter 13: Master Magic Part I

**Chapter Thirteen: Master Magic Part One**

A pair of armed goons walked towards a warehouse, one of them wielding a crowbar, prying open the side entrance. The figure of Luther Malfoy walked forward, staring at them, while looking rather anxious, as he periodically looked over his shoulder.

"Hurry up, the Turtles stopped us the last few attempts, we need to pull of this job successfully," ordered Malfoy and the thug managed to pry the door open, before they slipped inside. Quickly they moved forward, with the two goons moving forward, as Luther leaned on his stylish walking stick. Quickly, the thugs lugged a crate forward.

"Man this thing is heavy boss," grunted one of the thugs.

"It's supposed to be, a sonic device that will level the entire city of New York would not be light, but never mind that, let's move it to the truck before we get stopped," ordered Luther Malfoy but a shuriken impacted the ground right in front of him and saw the Black Phantom standing high above on the catwalk, staring down at them.

"Malfoy, the only place you're going is back to prison," said Hailey as she stared down at Malfoy before leaping down but Malfoy just motioned to his henchmen, who pointed their laser blasters.

Hailey dodged the laser blast attack, moving out of the way, as the goons continued to fight at her. Quickly, she removed her wand from her sleeve, sneaking around from the backstage. The two goons turned towards Hailey but Hailey summoned the laser blasters from the goons. The goons fell forward and landed the ground, before Hailey rushed forward and gracefully leapt into the air. A kick to the head knocked one of the henchmen down. The other henchmen attempted to nail Hailey with the crowbar but Hailey dodged and removed a crossbow and armed it. A carefully shot arrow disarmed the crowbar. The goon rushed forward but Hailey flipped him over onto his back, before she blasted her opponent into the wall. Turning slowly, Hailey advanced on Malfoy, wand drawn but the fact that she could do magic enraged the squib.

"That's it, I'm a member of a well respected family, I'm going to get magical powers one way or another!" shouted Luther Malfoy, as he attempted to push the crate open but Hailey sprung up and knocked Malfoy backwards into a wall. Malfoy pulled himself to his feet, his stylish cane in his hand, before he jabbed it forward, shooting a high impact laser out. Hailey dodged out of the way before Luther blasted through the wall and quickly rushed out, as Hailey found that the warehouse was caving on them. Quickly, she magically pulled the two knocked out goons out of harm's way, as the factory caved in, destroying the sonic device as everything fell down around them.

Hailey looked around, Malfoy had given her the slip, but at the very least, Hailey managed to stop Malfoy from getting his hands on whatever was in that crate and put another two of his Squib Inquistion goons out of circulation. Around a light post, Hailey used her wand to tie them off, as she heard the sirens indicating the arrival of the police. Quickly, she slipped into the night, leaving the two goons gift wrapped for the police.

Back at his hideout, Luther Malfoy arrived, in a towering temper, kicking a chair over. No matter what he attempted to steal, to force the American Wizarding Government to their knees, so he could force them to give him a way to perform magic as someone of his linage should, either the Turtles, Potter, or that Black Phantom was there to stop him every step of the way. He pointed his cane and blasted a vase, shattering it into hundreds of tiny pieces, as the few remaining Squib Inquisition members who had not been rounded up looked at their boss.

"Calm down boss, before you blow the entire joint up," said one of the squibs but Luther just rounded upon him.

"Do not tell me to be calm, you twit, I just lost a sonic device that would have forced their hands to find a way to grant squibs magic!" snapped Luther Malfoy. "If Morgan and all the others didn't comply, the entire city would have been leveled by the sonic vibrations emitted, and no one wizard, witch, mutant, or otherwise, could have stopped me. Yet, once again, someone, in this case the Black Phantom, foiled my plans. If I could do magic, they would all be crushed under my foot."

"Perhaps I can be of help Boss Malfoy," said a bald headed man with a monocle and a sleazy demeanor. "After all I upgraded your stylish walking stick into a weapon that managed you to escape your enemies on several occasions."

"Yes you did Sopho, but exactly how could you help me gain magical powers?" asked Luther. "You have not been holding out on me, that you've found a way to do so in squibs."

"As you know, I too was born a squib, but I've devoted my entire life to finding a way to be able to one day to perform magic," commented Sopho. "After years of extensive research I have found a way to do so but I must warn you, it has not been tested as of yet and we don't know any side effects."

"Listen to me Sopho, I need this, I'm not getting any younger, the prime years of my life have been wasted, it is my birthright as a Malfoy to be able to wield magic,' said Luther in a desperate voice. "Whatever you need for this experiment, whether it'd be funding or materials, just give me the word and it's yours."

"I require nothing much from you, Boss Malfoy," commented Sopho with a smirk. "I've already built the transference machine, but two things are required. A high level power source to implement the process and a magical blood relative for you, but other than that, everything is in order."

"The only blood relatives are my pampered older brother Lucius and his disgraced son Draco, who was on the run after a failure from Lord Voldemort the last I heard," said Luther. "As for the power source, I'm certain you have something in mind to fire up your little toy."

"Absolutely, I did not just bring this up spur of the moment, a rare, radioactive isotope has been discovered recently and is currently being researched right here in the city," said Sopho. "It is more than enough power to implement the transference process, but I must warn you, it's rather dangerous to handle. If it gets mishandled or dropped, it would vaporize the entire city."

"Boss it might be better off if you use this thing to hold the city hostage," suggested one of the goons, but Luther smacked him on the arm with the walking stick, causing him to recoil in pain.

"No, if this works, more of you will be able to gain magical powers and rule this city," said Malfoy as he turned to Sopho. "Now the only problem is suckering either Lucius or Draco here so we can steal their magic."

"It just so happens that I have something created that will be able to track down either of your blood relatives," remarked Sopho in a pleased voice, as he removed a tracking device before he handed it over to Luther. "Just add one of your hairs, and it will track any of your blood relatives, locking onto the closest one."

Luther smirked, before he pulled one of his hairs and pried open the top of the tracker, before dropping the hair inside. The tracker began to blink up and Sopho looked at it, with a bit of a curious look etched on his face.

"According to the tracker, at least one of them are in the city," explained Sopho and Luther turned to his fellow Squib Inquistion members with a twisted smirk, tonight we be a good night.

"Half of you go with Sopho to retrieve the isotope, the other half of you come with me, we will collect our other half of the experiment," commented Luther Malfoy in a triumphant voice, as if all went according to plan, Luther would be a squib no longer, he would be a full fledged wizard and have true power that can crush his enemies.

Back at the Potter residence, Hailey winced as she nursed a small cut on her arm that she had suffered during her battle with the Squib Inquisition. Ginny walked over to her and waved her wand, healing Hailey's cut.

"Thanks Ginny," replied Hailey gratefully but Ginny just surveyed her. "Yes, I know it's dangerous, but I stopped Malfoy from running off with something that might have put the entire city in peril."

"I still think you were rather lucky not to get seriously injured, beyond a few cuts and scrapes," said Ginny. "This Black Phantom thing of yours, well don't you think it's time to give it up?"

"No," answered Hailey firmly. "At first I created it, but it allows me to be something that allows me to be something other than the baby sister of Harry Potter. I also don't want anyone to figure out who I am, as they'll come after my family and my friends. Harry in particular has enough, without my stupidly, but he can't handle it all, so this is my way to help him, with Harry knowing."

"I still think you should tell Harry when he comes back," commented Ginny but Hailey just shook her head. "You ran into Luther Malfoy again, he's been getting desperate lately, all of the heists he's pulled."

"No kidding, I'm not the only one whose ran into him recently," said Hailey. "Judging by what he's said, the fact that he's a squib is causing him to get bitterer by the day. Whatever he tried to steal, it's something that he thinks will force the American Wizarding Government into finding a way to allow him to use magic."

"There's no way, other than for the Y'Liantian power crystals, that a witch or a wizard can gain magical power though," argued Ginny. "And other then the few fragments you have, the only person who has a large enough piece that might be of any help would be Voldemort and I doubt that even Luther Malfoy would be desperate try anything against him."

"No, in fact, I'm not sure how much Malfoy remembers about those particular power crystals, given the fact that Harry had his memory modified," remarked Hailey thoughtfully. "He can't have many more plans, at the rate he's losing members of his gang. I bet the next attempt will be a last ditch, desperation effort."

"Well he could be at his most dangerous then, obviously," said Ginny in a worried voice. "I just hope you know what you're doing, if Harry was here, he might be able to find a way to figure out what Malfoy's there."

"I wish Harry was here too but he's not, I could ask the others for help, no doubt they have other important things on their mind, plus it gives me something to do, to keep my mind off of certain things," commented Hailey as she walked out.

"If you need any help, Hailey, you know where to find me," said Ginny, but Hailey just nodded calmly, as she walked off and Ginny frowned, knowing full well that her friend had a need to prove herself. It was not as obsessive as Harry's desire to prove himself was, but it still was rather disturbing. Ginny frowned, she could only offer her support and hope that Hailey would accept it if she got in a rather sticky situation.

On the streets, Luther Malfoy and four of his squib inquisition members moved forward, the signal on the tracker getting stronger as they moved forward. They approached a group of homeless people, who was attempting to keep warm around a barrel with a flame inside.

"Hey buddy, spare change?" commented one of the homeless men in a slurred voice but one of the squibs knocked him backwards, as the tracking device began to beep loudly as he approached.

"One of you gentlemen are either Lucius or Draco Malfoy," declared Luther in a take charge voice, as they aimed the laser blasters, as the tracker began to beep. "Now, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. So you are to come with me"

"Malfoy, what are you talking about?" asked one of the homeless men in an obviously fake tone of voice, as he took a step back but Luther pointed the tracker towards the bum and it began to light up before the words "MATCH" appeared on it.

"Get him," ordered Luther as he pointed his men towards the homeless man, who removed a wand. "Take his wand as well."

The Squib Inquisition members rushed forward, but a loud bang knocked one of the men on the back. One of the gang members blasted a laser towards disguised homeless man, who just barely deflected the laser fire backwards. Luther grabbed the homeless man from behind by the arm.

"Let me go filth!" drawled the very distinctive voice of one Draco Malfoy, as he struggled against the grip of his squib uncle, but a kick came from out of mid air, knocking Luther to the ground. Draco quickly ran off as the Black Phantom stood to face off against Luther Malfoy.

"That's it, you have interfered in my plans for the last time, Black Phantom!" yelled Luther in a crazed voice before nodding towards his Squib Inquisition members. "Liquidate her!"

The members of the gang pointed the laser blasters towards Hailey, as Luther ran off right after Draco. Hailey dodged the attacks, and managed to disarm at least of two of the gang members, but a third gang member viciously impacted the barrel. Flames shot up into the air, as the homeless men scattered, as Hailey shot a large jet of water at it, dousing the flames but the Squib Inquisition had hastily retreated, leaving Hailey in confusion, wondering why they would attempt to abduct homeless people.

At that minute, Hailey's mirror began to heat up in her pocket. Quickly, she pulled her mask down and removed the mirror from pocket, before the anxious face of Ginny stared back at her.

"What's up Ginny?" prompted Hailey.

"I was just listening to the Muggle news, when a special bulletin came on, saying that a group of men broke into a research laboratory and stole something that was very important, hang on, something that was described as being described as a rare and quite powerful radioactive isotope," explained Ginny and Hailey's expression became absolutely grim.

"I don't know hardly anything about physics, but something like that might be able to put the city and perhaps the entire world in a dangerous peril," commented Hailey in a mortified voice and Ginny nodded to confirm her fears.

"The people on their said that it was urgent that it would be returned immediately, straight away, and it has enough power to put many in serious danger," said Ginny. "You know, this has Luther Malfoy written all over it."

"Indeed, I thought his little plot to attack homeless people was a bit odd, but now I can see it, it was a diversion to keep the attention away from the real target, that radioactive isotope," summarized Hailey. "I suspect he's going to give his ransom demands to the American Wizarding Government at any minute, so put it over onto their frequency and let me know if you hear anything."

"And what will you do?" demanded Ginny, as she narrowed her eyes.

"See where Luther's keeping the thing, don't worry, I'll be careful," replied Hailey. "If I need any help, I'll call immediately."

"See that you do so, your mother will kill me if anything happens to you and so will Harry for that matter when he comes home," said Ginny and Hailey nodded, before Ginny's face disappeared from the mirror and Hailey set off, knowing that the chances of running into Luther Malfoy for the third time in an evening was rather slim, but she had to try.

Back at the hide out, Sopho oversaw the installation of the radioactive isotope into his transference machine, a grin on his face. The truth was, his experiment had been turned down by several magical governments over the years, so he had to use less than ethical means. The risks were strong but the benefits were also strong should it succeed. He played on Luther Malfoy's bitterness and his desperation to be a wizard. True, there's a chance that the experiment could be an success but Sopho knew all too well that experiments were never a success the first time around. In fact, a failure would teach Sopho more about the process and allow him to fine tune it, for future attempts. And then when it was perfected, he would be able to become an extremely powerful wizard in his own right. If Luther Malfoy was destroyed, well, that was the risk he took when he signed up for the experiment, as Sopho did warn him that it was not fine tuned.

On the streets of New York City, Draco Malfoy stood at the end of a filthy alley way, his nose wrinkled in absolute disgust at his surroundings. He had ran from the wrath of the Dark Lord and his followers, Potter and his friends, the Ministry of Magic, the Order of the Phoenix, and most likely a few other sides that Draco had long forgotten about. The truth was that he could not go back to Britain, now especially and posing as a homeless Muggle in New York City seemed to be the best way to blend in, as due to a rather significant amount of homeless people, Draco was able to be a face in the crowd. He used magic, but only to obtain what was necessary for survival. It was a distinct departure from the life he had enjoyed for seventeen years, but the alternative was execution.

Yet, Draco wondered exactly how could have those weird individuals found him. He thought his disguise was foolproof, there was no way even Lord Voldemort would have been able to determine exactly who he was but yet, he was found. It was almost like they had a method to track him, but Draco made sure that there was no tracking charms on him, before he donned his disguise. A tedious process, but absolutely necessary to save his own skin and his life. It was a disgrace that Draco Malfoy, the heir of one of the most prestigious magical lines in all of Great Britain, had to live out the rest of his life posing as both without a home and a Muggle. In his mind, he was less than the Weasleys, but he feared returning to face the Dark Lord and anyone else who might want to see him dead.

The sound of approaching footsteps had caused the hairs on the back of Draco's neck to stand up and he quickly withdrew his wand, ready to defend himself just in case it was a threat. He could hear a slight beeping sound and he stepped back, looking for a way out that would not create any magic to detected.

"This way, he's in this alley way, the tracker never lies," said the voice of Luther Malfoy and the Squib Inquisition appeared in the scene. "All right, the jig is up, now come with us and we promise not to rough you up all that much."

"Stand back, I know how to use this," warned Draco in a confident voice, as he pointed his wand, but Luther snapped his fingers and two Squib Inquisition members pointed the laser blasters, before firing them over Draco's head. "And I doubt I have much to worry about, considering that you can't use…"

Draco was silenced by falling rubble crashing down onto his head and the squibs moved forward, one of them picking up Draco's wand, before the others fastened his hands and feet together, dragging him out of the alleyway. A slight moan escaped Draco's lips as he was dragged off.

From the shadows, with use of a disillusionment charm, Hailey had her wand pointed directly towards Malfoy's walking stick and quickly placed a tracking charm on it. Now Malfoy would lead her right to their hide out, without knowing it. Quickly, she crept off, careful to keep a safe distance, not wanting to tip off Luther and raise his suspicious.

Draco Malfoy's eyes flickered open and he saw that he was strapped on an operating table, a plastic headband on his head, with suction cups on the side hooked to his hand. On his arms and legs were similar miniature devices, with the same function and they all lead to a glowing orb. On the other side of the orb had a similar operating table and a figure with a bald head walked forward, adjusting his monocle.

"Greetings young Draco, I see you're awake," commented Sopho with a twisted smirk as Draco attempted to reach for his wand to escape, but much to his displeasure, he had been disarmed.

"My wand where is it?" asked Draco and Sopho calmly twirled the wand between his fingers. "Give me that, you have no right to touch my wand, I am a heir of the most noble house of Malfoy, you will show me the respect that I deserve, let me out of here now, I demand to see the freak who attacked me."

"Now Draco, that's no way to talk to your uncle," commented Luther and Draco's eyes narrowed, his nose wrinkling slightly at these words.

"What are you talking about?" demanded Draco. "Father was an only child, he had no brother, so how dare you disgrace the Malfoy name by passing yourself as something your not."

"I guess Lucius never told you about the squib skeleton on the Malfoy family closet or perhaps his parents kept that from him as well," commented Luther and Draco looked absolutely disgusted when he realized he was in contact with a squib. As far as he was concerned, they were lower than Mudbloods. "Yes, well I'm disgusted that a pathetic little whelp like you could be related to me as well. I've worked for everything in my life and now you will be useful for once, as you will give me the means to use magic."

At that moment, Hailey looked in from a window and to her surprise, she saw Draco Malfoy inside. She wondered what he could have done about that but she saw the glow of the isotope, it was inside, Hailey needed to stop Luther Malfoy at all costs.

"Are you mad, squib?" demanded Draco. "There is no way to steal magic, that's just propaganda spread by the Ministry of Magic to induce hate for Mudbloods. Justifiable hate yes, as they have no business in our world, but it's just a way to make other people see the truth."

"No, trust us, a way has been created now," commented Sopho in a joyful voice. "You are on the side of this machine, the transference process will withdraw magic from you and into the subject on the other side, that being Boss Malfoy here."

"Let's get on with this Sopho, I've waited long enough," said Luther but at that moment, Hailey used a blasting spell to shatter the windows, before she rushed inside to face the Squib Inquisition. "Not again, that's it, finish her time, leave nothing of her left."

The Squib Inquisition pointed the blasters at Hailey but Hailey withdrew her wand and spun her arm, causing the blasters to break. Quickly, one of the goons rushed forward but Hailey dodged the attack. Leaping up, Hailey knocked the attacker back. Another goon rushed Hailey, but Hailey tripped him up, causing him to fly into a pipe hooked to the wall. Another gang member towards Hailey but Hailey dodged around. An arrow was shot upwards, slicing a net from above, trapping the squib. Another gang member swung a baseball bat at Hailey, but she dodged it and kicked the gang member in the face. Luther stepped forward and aimed his walking stick but this time Hailey was ready. She shot an arrow right at the walking stick, knocking it right from Luther's hand. Quickly, she rushed forward and threw her opponent to the ground. In an instant, Hailey face off against Sopho and charged forward, but Sopho pulled a lever. A large wall of pure energy appeared and Hailey smacked against it. The impact knocked her backwards and to the ground, as her wand slid out of sight.

"Grab her!" snapped Luther, as blood dripped from his lips and two of the members of the Squib Inquisition grabbed an arm, allowing a third to punch Hailey in the stomach a couple of times, winding her. Her wandless magic was not up to par enough to be able to defend herself without the wand. She attempted to grab her mirror to get him, but one of the members grabbed it fro her grasp.

"Should have checked your make up later, girlie," said one of the squibs as Luther smacked Hailey with a walking stick, before another gang member removed a two pairs of shackles. Hailey found herself hooked to a pipe, unable to move to face Malfoy.

"That should hold you for now," commented Luther. "I would kill you, but I need to implement my plan."

"Yes, ransom the entire city off or threaten to blow it up once again, someone will stop you!" yelled Hailey in a forceful voice but Luther responded with a chuckle.

"As if, I have a much bigger objective in mind and my nephew will help me be able to perform magic," commented Luther in a smug tone before he reached forward and casually removed the mask of the Black Phantom, revealing the scowling face of Hailey Potter from underneath. "Ah, young Miss Potter, I should have know it would be you, guess you didn't want your dear brother to know that you were playing a vigilante. Such a pity I'm going to have to kill you. Just think, you'll have the honor of being my first magical murder."

Hailey just looked up at Luther with hatred etched in her emerald colored eyes, but Luther paid her no mind. In fact, Draco was looking curiously at her, but Luther turned to Sopho, as he walked forward towards the transference machine.

"Let's get out with it Sopho," remarked Luther in a bored drawl, as he strapped himself onto the operating table, before Sopho placed the devices on his head, wrists, and ankles and then turned to Draco.

"Now you might feel slight pain when your magic is removed from you and might suffer the unfortunate side effect of death, but I suspect you might have already guessed that it matters little," commented Sopho coolly. "Ready Boss Malfoy?"

"Do it," said Luther shortly, not wanting to waste any more time than he had to and Sopho walked over to the console, before he twisted some knobs, as Hailey watched with wide eyes, as Draco began to illuminate a green color, as he screamed in pain.

"Please, don't!" yelled Draco in pain, it was worse with the Cruciatus Curse, what this Muggle contraption was doing to him. He wanted to claw out his own eyeballs but much to his displeasure, he could not because his arms were trapped. He thrashed, but the more he struggled, the more pain he felt, as the blinding glow of the radioactive isotope became more intense

"Yes, I can feel it Sopho, the power is mine, I will be a wizard in a matter of moments!" yelled Luther in a crazed voice, his eyes widening and glowing yellow, as Sopho regarded this with curiosity, but began to twist the knob, as Draco's magical potential grew weaker as Luther's grew stronger.

Hailey watched, as she saw the radioactive isotope grow smaller, yet brighter, as the process continued, as Draco's blood curdling screams racked her ears and Luther's body began to glow orange. Luther gave an anguished scream and for a second, his form faded completely from existence, before it reappeared on the operating table, as Sopho began to shut the machine off. Draco fell unconscious and Luther looked equally unmoving as well.

"Something gone wrong?" asked Hailey, as she blinked, the isotope had completely vanished and Sopho looked at a loss to explain exactly what had occurred.

"No, everything's gone right!" called a sinister voice as a large concentration of magical energy appeared in mid air, before readjusting into a corporeal form of Luther Malfoy, right in front of the motionless form of Luther on the table, as Hailey stared wide eyed, before attempting to pull herself free.

"Then the experiment has gone right, with only you losing your human body," commented Sopho, as he looked Luther's body on the table, which had been reduced to an empty shell.

"The human body that had a defect that did not allow me to perform magic," said Luther as his entire form glowed as he levitated a few inches off the ground. "With this new body, I have true power and am not restricted by human limitations."

"So now you can do magic?" concluded Sopho but Luther spun around, creating a vortex of magical of energy, before directly it to the crate which levitated into the air. After a few seconds, the crate was lowered to the ground and Luther appeared, before he twisted his form into the very familiar blast of red light of the Reducto spell. In a burst, Luther blasted forward and reduced the crate to dust when he connected. Luther resumed his human form, before turning to face Sopho.

"I am magic!" cried Luther as a chair materialized from his hand and Luther placed it down in front of them. "Now the entire world will tremble before my power."


	14. Chapter 14: Master Magic II

**Chapter Fourteen: Master Magic Part Two**

Hailey looked around, at the new form of Luther Malfoy. Quickly, she shook her head, attempting to dislodge a hair pin. In an instant, the hair pin loosened and flew out. Expertly, she managed to catch it, before she began to pick the locks of the shackles, hoping she could escape while Luther was distracted with his new abilities. In a matter of seconds, Hailey managed to unlock herself from the shackles and quietly, without drawing any attention, attempted to make a strategic retreat towards the exit but Luther spotted her, contorting into a bolt of light, before he zoomed forward and blasted himself against the door, sealing it shut, before materializing in a corporeal form right in front of Hailey.

"Going somewhere?" asked Luther in a bored tone of voice. "As if you could escape me, I'm now purely one hundred percent magic, I have power beyond anyone that can dream about. I master all magic, in fact that's what you can call me, Master Magic…"

Hailey quickly grabbed her wand and rushed forward, somersaulting over a bolt of magical energy that her magically charged enemy had sent at her. In an instant, she dodged another attack, before she looked over, seeing the switch for the forceful generator that Sopho had used to stop her cold earlier.

"Take your best shot at me, Malfoy!" called Hailey in a taunting voice and Luther twisted himself into a jagged grey bolt, before he shot forward. As he got closer, Hailey activated the switch, causing Luther to impact the shield. A loud inhumane shriek could be heard as the magic was blasted back, as Luther fell to the ground, back into his corporeal form. Hailey looked around, there should have been an exit. She needed some help, this was way out of her league.

"Help me," whined Draco in a low voice and Hailey turned around, her eyes narrowed towards Draco, after all that Malfoy had said about her brother, he had some nerve to ask for help.

"And why should I do that?" demanded Hailey.

"Because I know the way out," commented Draco in a bored drawl as he watched the form of his disgraced squib uncle contort into a silver drill construct of raw magic, before it blasted towards the force field, attempting to break through. "Of course, you could take your chances against him and get flattened. After all, your brother's not here to pull an amazing last minute solution out this time and save the world."

"This better not be a trick, Malfoy," said Hailey as she used her wand to quickly sever the straps and Draco quickly staggered forward, before he reached for his wand.

"I feel nothing, that squib really did find a way to steal my magic," muttered Draco under his breath but Hailey just rolled her eyes, as the force field completely destroyed.

"Okay, Malfoy, any suggestions that you might have right now would be really helpful right now," said Hailey in a slightly anxious voice.

"Running might be a good start, Potter," remarked Draco in a rather bored tone and Hailey violently grabbed Draco by the ear, pulling him forward, just in time, as the blast of pure magic light had blown up the operating table that Malfoy had been on.

"WAKE UP MALFOY!" shouted Hailey in an irritated voice, as the two rushed forward, as Luther directed his attacks mostly towards Hailey. "Don't you want to live through this, not that I care, but it does seem like you'd want to save your skin."

"No, considering I lost the ability to lose magic, that's as good as dead for a pureblood," remarked Draco in a bored tone of voice as Hailey pushed Draco to the ground out of the way, before she moved forward, and aimed her wand towards the form of her opponent. A large bang echoed throughout the warehouse and a net flew right towards Luther. The entity of pure magic was caught off guard and was wrapped up, dropping to the ground.

Hailey sighed in relief, but unfortunately for her, that relief was rather short lived, as Luther gripped onto the magically created net, before he began to absorb every bit of magic inside the net. His form illuminated into a bright orange glow, and the net began to blow into wisps of air, unable to sustain its form in reality. Hailey backed off and aimed her crossbow, before she shot an arrow up above. The arrow stuck into the ceiling before it exploded, causing pieces of rubble to fall down on top of Luther Malfoy.

"Let's go!" yelled Hailey in a forceful voice to Draco. "That won't hold him for long, I can be sure of that."

"Why did that net not hold him or am I asking the wrong Potter?" asked Draco snidely, and Hailey just grabbed his arm, before yanking him forward. "Watch my arm, you're going to end up ripping it off if you're not careful…"

"Excuse me if I don't care after you tried to kill Harry," spat Hailey, but the voice of Luther Malfoy echoed throughout the building, stopping them cold.

"Stop them!" shouted Luther and his fellow Squib Inquisition members rushed forward to the attack, but Hailey quickly dodged their attacks, before she leapt up and knocked one of the squibs to the ground. Quickly, she moved around, and the arms and legs of another one of her opponent's snapped together, causing him to drop to the ground. In an instant, Hailey bounced off the wall, before she kicked off, knocking one of her opponent's down. Another opponent charged her with a pipe but Hailey stunned him quickly, knocking him to the ground, but then the form of Luther Malfoy burst from the rubble, his eyes narrowed in pure hatred towards both Draco and Hailey, along with his downed henchmen. "You squibs have failed me for the last time, I no longer need your help, as now I have magic and can crush my enemies."

Quickly, Luther morphed into a pure wall of green magical energy, extremely similar to the magic created by the Killing Curse and he blasted forward towards his squibs. As the wall passed through them, each squib dropped dead, the wall continued to move forward towards Hailey and Draco, it began to fade and it withdrew, until Luther Malfoy stood there in his corporeal form, no longer made of pure magic.

"Sopho, what is the meaning of this?" demanded Luther as he rounded upon the squib mad scientist, who cowered against the wall.

"Something called magical exhaustion, despite the odd nature of what happened in the experiment, you do have your limitations," explained Sopho quickly. "A Killing Curse requires a great deal of power to pull off, in fact the most out of all the spells…"

"Tell me how to fix this magical exhaustion problem, Sopho or I'll kill you!" yelled Luther in a crazed voice, as the squib backed against the wall, but Hailey had quickly removed the shackles from the wall before she rushed forward and struck Luther in the back with chain. Luther flew backwards, landing against the wall, before he burst forward. Hailey desperately swung the shackles towards him again and interestingly enough, she deflected him with a well placed blow. Luther pulled himself to his feet and eyes widened in absolutely rage, as he saw the magically created equivalent a gaping wound in his chest. "What did you do with me?"

Hailey shrugged, but she held the shackles and moved forward to attack Luther with them. It appeared that whatever they were made of had adverse effects on her magical adversary. Hailey swung them but Luther wisely bolted out of the way, avoiding being struck with the shackles. Quickly, he pulled Draco, who had been hiding out of the way, forward, causing him to smack into Hailey, causing the shackles to fly from her hand. Luther raised his hand and blasted both of the teenagers, causing them to magically fuse together by the wrist. Both looked rather agitated by this new development.

"I'll deal with you two later," said Luther has he rounded on Sopho who had attempted to creep towards the door. "Now, Sopho, more power, tell me how to increase my endurance."

"Suppose you could transmute Muggle energy into magic, that would widen your potential or you could find a way to absorb high amounts of magic," said Sopho and that moment, Luther morphed into a coma curse, before he shot straight towards Sopho, knocking him unconscious with the impact.

"Thanks for the information Sopho and as for you two, I require more power before I can rule this city, so we're going to have to cut this a bit short," remarked Luther as shot around the building, before zooming right towards the window, as the building began to cave in on the heads of Draco and Hailey.

"Move it!" yelled Hailey, as she walked forward quickly, attempting to gracefully leap out of the way, but he found it difficult with all the dead weight magically strapped to her wrist. Quickly, just barely, she managed to pull both herself and Malfoy, who seemed to have a bit of a death wish through an opening in the wall, before the building completely collapsed down on top of their heads. Hailey turned, looking rather. "Let's go, first, we need to find someway to get separated and then I can work on a way of defeating your uncle."

"Both of those things are fine with me, the less time I spend fused at the wrist with a filthy little half blood, the better," muttered Draco as Hailey viciously pulled him forward.

"Watch your tongue Malfoy, I have no problems dragging a corpse back home," said Hailey in a dangerous tone of voice, and fortunately, Draco decided it would be a good time to shut up.

Back at the Potter Residence, Hailey had arrived, pulling a very uncooperative Draco by the wrist, having blind folded him so he would not have found on the way to her home. Hailey thanked her lucky stars that Ginny was the only one was there, as the others had other things that they needed to do on that evening. Patiently, Ginny waited as Hailey explained everything that she saw and that had happened in the fight with the new and improved Luther Malfoy.

"Please tell me there's a way that you could separate us," pleaded Hailey and while Draco seemed to think he was too good to beg a Weasley for help, the look in his eyes betrayed that he too wanted desperately to be freed. Ginny looked at the two, running over every possible idea in her head, but nothing came to mind that could separate both of their wrists.

"I'm sorry, this has me a bit baffled," remarked Ginny with a frown. "If we knew exactly what spell Luther hit you with, we could work on a way to free you, but as it is, I'm sorry, but there's nothing that can be done."

"Well, I'm sure Harry Potter might be able to find a way," suggested Draco in a bit of an arrogant tone. "After all, precious Potter can solve anything, with the exception of defeating the Dark Lord and no need to tell me that Potter is dead, because I know differently. If he had been truly killed, all of you would have charged over there and attacked the Dark Lord to avenge his death. The Dark Lord likes to maintain his security that there are those who fear him, so he wouldn't acknowledge the fact that the only reason none of you continued to fight him is because Potter told you not to."

"Look, unfortunately Harry's not here, he's out of the country," said Ginny but Draco just scoffed.

"Listen, I'm sure you have a way to contact him," remarked Draco but Ginny shook her head.

"No, Harry did not take any way to contact with him but that's not any of your business Malfoy," said Ginny in a testy voice, but Malfoy just sneered at her. "I'm more worried about the fact that he's in the city with that kind of power."

"I know, we need to find a way to get this thing off of me," commented Hailey with disdain at Malfoy. "And then I can go out and stop him."

"No, first we need to find out a way to defeat him, now did you notice anything peculiar about him when you were fighting him?" prodded Ginny urgently and Hailey looked thoughtful, before nodding.

"Well, it appears that he can only do only so much magic at once, before the magic he uses becomes weaker," commented Hailey. "Also, when I hit him with the shackles they had me chained up with, it seemed to injure him slightly."

"That would be because they were made of platinum," interjected Draco and the two girls looked absolutely confused, so the Malfoy heir decided to elaborate. "Platinum is the only element on earth that is completely resistant to magic, the shackles in the Wizengamot courtroom are made of platinum, and since the squib's new form is made of pure magic, it would harm him. Naturally, the amount of platinum used to make the chains would only due a slight amount of damage."

The two girls looked at Malfoy, who sighed.

"All purebloods are taught that pre-Hogwarts," commented Malfoy before correcting himself. "All respected purebloods at least."

"Okay, one of two things need to happen, either we force him to use enough magic to contain him or we strike him with enough platinum to completely destroy him," remarked Ginny, who was doing her best not to cave into the urge to hex Malfoy into a million pieces. "I wonder if there are any spells that would simulate the magical disrupting properties given off by platinum."

"There are but there are highly dark and advanced in nature, nothing that can be learned in a matter of minutes," commented Draco. "In fact, I suspect that only two people might have the potential to do so, Potter and the Dark Lord."

"Rather reassuring," said Hailey and the lights around them back to blink on and off several times, causing Hailey to get up and stagger back, when she remembered she was magically tethered to the ferret. "Ginny, do me a favor and look outside, see if the lights are blinking anywhere else."

Ginny nodded, before she rushed forward towards the window and looked out. The street lights were blinking on and off, as a swirling vortex of magical energy could be seen in the distance of the sky.

"Let me guess, the squib's having fun with his newfound powers," remarked Draco snidely and Ginny nodded calmly in confirmation. "Figure that would happen, he's using my magic for his own gains, sullying it."

"Malfoy, quiet," said Ginny as she turned to Hailey, who frowned.

"He's transmuting electricity into magic, he's recharging himself, like a battery for a car needs to be charged periodically," remarked Hailey. "He didn't last all that long, but given all the magic that he used to maintain that killing charm wall, it's hard to tell how long he would have last otherwise."

Just at that time, an old television set came to life, despite the fact that it was not plugged into the wall and the face of Luther Malfoy appeared on the television.

"Hello New York City and this message goes out to the Boy-Who-Lived, one Harry Potter!" called Luther. "Now, Potter, you've been a thorn in my side for too long, foiling my plans but now the odds are even. I'm more than just a wizard, I am magic, and in one hour, I'm going to use my new found powers to obliterate Time Square. I dare any man, woman, child, or mutant turtle to stop me, especially you Potter. Come one, come all, stop me, if you dare."

With that, Luther's form disappeared from the television screen.

"Egotistical squib, broadcasting his plans for everyone to hear," commented Draco.

"Well, it's obvious, he wants everyone to know what he's up to, it's a trap," said Hailey.

"Yes, and it looks like Scarhead's the one that he wants trapped, a shame that he isn't here," remarked Draco snidely. "As much as the squib is befouling my magic, seeing Potter beg for his life would be rather amusing, even if a no good filthy squib would be the one doing so."

"Ginny, are you sure there isn't anyway you can separate me from this thing?" pleaded Hailey and Ginny suddenly looked thoughtful.

"It does seem too simple, but it's worth a shot," said Ginny with a shrug, as she raised her wand and pointed it towards Hailey and Draco. "Finite."

Much to their surprise, the wrists of the two became undone. Draco quickly pulled his hand away, wrinkling his nose up in absolute disgust.

"Tell me where the sink is, I need to wash my hand," remarked Draco in a snide voice but both Hailey and Ginny pointed their wands at Draco. "Go ahead, see if I care, I have no magic, kill me.""

"No, Malfoy, if you think we're going to leave you here alone, then you must be more insane than your uncle," said Ginny. "We need to get to find him and contain him, before he does some serious damage."

Hailey nodded, before she once again covered Draco's eyes to prevent him from knowing exactly where the Potter Residence was, before the two witches lead the powerless Malfoy heir through the door, right to the outside of the word.

Needless to say, Hailey and Ginny were not the only ones who had their attention grabbed by Luther Malfoy's bold televised announcement. The Battle Shell sped down the street, as the miniature satellite system on the top began to spin out of control.

"Well, whatever Malfoy's using, it can't be far, these energy readings are extremely strong, the tracker's picking up a huge quantity of it," remarked Don as he bent over. "Strange, I've never seen anything this strong before, I don't know how much longer the tracker can maintain searching for this high level."

"I don't think we need the tracker any longer, look!" shouted Mikey, as he pointed outside the window, to see a swirling vortex of magical energy in the sky high above.

"That's rather unexpected," commented Leo as he looked at the magical energy apprehensively from above.

"So Malfoy's got a new toy, I say we bust it," said Raph as he twirled his Sais, ready for action, but Leo was forced to slam on the brakes of the Battle Shell, when the road had rose up in front of them. He was unable to stop in time, as the Battle Shell began to skid out of control, but thankfully he managed to put on the emergency brakes, stopping it before it slammed against the wall of a nearby building. Quickly, the Turtles evacuated the Battle Shell, weapons drawn.

"Okay, Malfoy show yourself!" called Leo. "We know you're out there."

"Right you are reptile, but I'm out here, I'm everywhere!" replied Luther. "And Luther Malfoy does seem like a name for a commoner, a powerless squib, but I'm much more than that, because now I am a wizard. Actually, much more than that, as I am magic. In fact, my name is now Master Magic!"

"Master Magic?" commented Mikey in confusion. "Now if there was ever a name for a cheesy, fourth string comic book villain, that would be it."

The magic swirled in mid air, causing the Turtles to have to back off because of the high powered wind gusts that it generated. Master Magic took his corporeal form, to face the quartet of ninjas with absolutely disdain.

"You dare mock my power?" demanded Master Magic. "Perhaps I'll give you a demonstration of how powerful I am."

"Talk to the Sai!" shouted Raph, as he threw his weapons at Master Magic, but Master Magic just raised his fingers, causing the Sais to vibrate in mid air, reducing them into nothing but dust.

"Attack him, find a way to contain him!" shouted Leo and the Turtles rushed forward, but Master Magic zoomed out of the way, before he sucked himself back into the power lines high above.

"He can travel through the power lines, I don't know how we can catch him," said Don as Master Magic appeared in front of Don, before he sent a pair of blasts of raw magical energy at Don. Don just barely avoided the attack, before he sprung out of the way. Master Magic spun around, zapping up, before shooting right at the ground. The ground rumbled and shackles burst up over the ground, hooking Don's feet. Don attempted to pull himself free and a large blast of light impacted Don in the face, knocking him loopy on his feet.

Mikey rushed around, but Master Magic sprang up into the power lines, before zipping across them and came right behind Mikey. He flicked his wrist and Mikey's nunchucks began spinning at a super speed on his own accord, beginning to smack Mikey in the face over and over again, dropping him to the ground. Quickly, Mikey was hoisted up into the air and slammed down, causing the street below him to rumble.

Leo had come from behind Master Magic and sprung up, attempting to slice his katana into the top of his corporeal form, but Master Magic calmly flicked his finger towards Leo, breaking the katana. Leo dodged another attack, before he came from behind his opponent. Master Magic raised his fists and slammed them into the ground, causing a mild shockwave curse to reverberate through the streets. Leo blasted up into the air and down onto his shell, before Raph moved around, going for a punch, but a wall of solid magical energy appeared in front of them. Raph winced before Master Magic pushed the wall forward, slamming it into Raph. Raph dropped to the ground and the magically charged ex-squib circled the downed forms of the Turtles. In an instant, he conjured a large glass bowl with a top on it around the ninjas. Another wave of the wrist and water began to fill the bowl.

"A rather interesting effort, but as it is inevitable, you are now in the soup, the turtle soup," said Master Magic, as he began to heat up the glass bowl, in an attempt to cook the mutants alive.

Quickly a blasting spell connected with the bowl, shattering it, freeing the Turtles before too much damage could be done. They escaped, to see Ginny walking through there. They all looked relieved that she had arrived in time, but Master Magic didn't seem all that bothered by her sudden arrival.

"So, Potter sends his whore to stop me," cackled Master Magic. "I'm not impressed, remember, I'm made of pure magic, there's nothing you can do to stop me."

"Actually, there is," replied Ginny smugly. "HAILEY NOW!"

At that moment, Hailey shut off the power to the city. The lights in the city shut off, leaving nothing but the illuminated form of Master Magic, who narrowed his eyes in frustration, as his unlimited power source had been denied.

"No, it's not going to end like this!" shouted Master Magic as he spied a construction sight, before his facial features contorted into a twisted smirk, before he shot several bolts of magical energy at the vehicles, animating them. "Now, you can stop me, or you can save the city, it's your choice."

Master Magic swirled around, before he blasted into the sky, to find an alternate source to fuel his powers. Raph stepped forward, but Leo grabbed his arm, as he saw the construction vehicles from across the street roll forward, beginning to smash up the half constructed building.

"Don't look now, but we have much bigger problems right now, they're tear up the entire city," said Leo. "Don, can you find a way to stop him?"

"If I had a weakness, I could be able to stop him," offered Don feebly as he put on a pair of night vision goggles that allowed him to see in the dark. "As of right now, I don't have anything I can use."

"He's vulnerable to platinum," said Ginny. "It's the only metal on earth that can stop magic."

"Wait, this gives me an idea," said Don suddenly, as he looked off into the distance. "The tower over there, it's the only structure in the city that's made of one hundred percent platinum."

"So, let me guess, we track him down and drop the entire thing down on his head," said Raph.

"Something like that, there's no time to explain, the rest of you stop those vehicles," said Don as he ran off.

"And I'll lure Luther out of hiding," replied Hailey as she walked off as the others opened their mouth. "Don't worry, I know what I'm doing."

Hailey walked off, before she pointed her wand at Draco, who had attempted to sneak off."

"Not going to get away that easy Malfoy," said Hailey, as Leo, Raph, Mikey, and Ginny moved forward into the construction sight, as a steam roller began to barrel towards them.

"Okay, I'm open to suggestions," said Leo, as the magically fueled vehicle moved closer.

"I've got one, jump!" shouted Mikey, as they launched themselves out of the way, allowing the steam roller to stop, before it turned back towards them, before it rolled forward.

"Those things don't let up," remarked Raph, as he attempted to dodge out of the way, but a wrecking ball swung from them from above.

"What we need to do is to find a way to pit these vehicles against each other, because there's no way any of our attacks are going to beat them, magic or otherwise," replied Ginny in a patient voice.

"Great idea, Ginny, but exactly how they seem to copy all of our moves?" asked Mikey.

"And that we should use to our advantage," inputted Leo, before he leapt onto the steam roller, as the wrecking ball swung towards it. At the last second, Leo leapt off, causing the wrecking ball to smash the steam roller to bits from the impact.

"Leo's got the right idea, c'mon," said Raph, as he sprung up, avoiding the spinning crane as it rushed forward and from the other side, the wrecking ball had moved towards Raph. Raph stood there, as the two vehicles swung towards each other before he flipped out of the way. Both the crane and the wrecking ball smashed against each other, obliterating them from the impact.

The fourth and final vehicle, a cement mixer had moved towards them. Quickly, Ginny dodged around, as the vehicle barreled towards the Turtles. In an instant, Ginny quickly levitated a barrel, jamming the top of the cement mixer. With a distinct inability to pour the cement, the cement mixer just barreled towards the Turtles, who leapt out of the way, towards the building. At that instant, the cement mixer blasted towards them, as Raph, Mikey, and Leo waved it forward, taunting the vehicle, that blasted forward, but at the last second, the three Turtles leapt off and the vehicle completely smashed through the building. The building completely collapsed, crushing the cement mixer. The group looked relieved, as the four enchanted construction vehicles had been defeated.

Don took out his equipment from the Battle Shell. To be honest, he wasn't entirely sure if this was going to work all that well, it had never been tried before, but it was worth a shot. Quickly, he activated the laser on the top of the battle shell to burn a small piece of the tower off. Don caught the piece, before he began to melt down the platinum into a liquefied from, as he pulled out a Triceraton Blaster from the back of the Battle Shell. Quickly, he began to remove the plasma tube from the top of it. It was a tedious process, as if he was not careful, he could blow up half the city.

Master Magic looked around, if he was not mistaken, a nuclear power plant was nearby. That would give him ample opportunity to create enough energy to give him even more power. Despite the decent amount he had right now, it was not enough for someone like Master Magic, he required even more.

At that instant, Hailey, with Draco reluctantly following closely behind her, looking a bit apprehensive. Quickly, Hailey removed the mirror from her pocket.

"Okay Don, I'm here, and he is too, exactly how long will it take to get your plan up and working?" asked Hailey.

"About ten to fifteen minutes, give or take," replied Don. "See what you can do to stall him."

"Stall him, okay, no problem," muttered Hailey with a nod, as she watched Master Magic moved forward, before she removed a shuriken from her pocket. Quickly, she flicked it towards the ground and miniature explosion caught the attention of Master Magic. "Hey, Magical Moron!"

"You dare mock me, Potter!" shouted Master Magic in a crazed tone of voice, his eyes glowing orange as he turned to face her.

"Yes, believe it or not I do, the fact remains that no matter whatever you throw at me, I keep coming back," said Hailey. "For all that power, one would think that you could actually succeed every once in a while"

"Foolish child, perhaps this will convince you of my power!" yelled Master Magic as he shot bolts of pure magical energy to the ground, causing four monsters to rise up out of the ground. One was made of lava, another made of metal, the third made of ice, and other made of tar.

"Potter, look at what you did now," commented Draco in a snide voice, as Hailey dodged a blast of lava, causing the ground to incinerated from the ground and then several icicles blasted at her from the ice monster.

"Last ditch effort, this is what I wanted," muttered Hailey as she flicked several shuriken at the ice monster. A miniature explosion had caused a hole to blow into its chest, sending water spraying everywhere. Hailey spent several minutes dodging the attacks of her opponents, just barely keeping up with them.

Quickly, Hailey somersaulted into the picture and the lava monster rushed forward, before he splashed lava towards Hailey, just a large block of ice was shot right at Hailey. Hailey moved out of the way, as she watched the ice both cool the lava and melt it.

An idea forming in her head, Hailey watched as the tar monster moved forward as well, the steel monster moving from another end. She levitated a manhole cover off and as her four opponents charged in for the attack, Hailey quickly dropped down the manhole. The four impacted each other, causing them to be obliterated in an instant. Hailey pulled another manhole cover and Master Magic, fading a bit, turned to her, before pointing his hand at her. A half powered blast of magical energy was sent towards Hailey but Hailey dodged out of the way, before she came behind Master Magic, who was becoming all aware of his severely weakened power.

"No, I must have power!" yelled Master Magic desperately, as he slammed his hands down, causing Hailey to fly back from the impact as he staggered forward, before he saw the fence, leading to the nuclear power plant. "Yes, I'll blow up the reactor, that will give me more than enough power to fuel me for years and destroy the city."

Hailey attempted to stop him, but Master Magic bolted forward, sawing his way through the fence, before he appeared inside the nuclear power plant, moving towards the reactor.

"Please tell me you've got it finished up, Don," replied Hailey in a frantic voice.

"Yes, just about, now I've got it," said Don, as he watched the illuminated form of Master Magic right towards the nuclear power plant, as he had the modified Triceraton Blaster hooked up to the satellite of the Battle Shell, which was directed towards Master Magic. "Hope this works, I didn't have any time to test it but no time like the present I suppose."

Don triggered the blaster and for an anxious few seconds, he thought it had not have worked. And then, a heavy platinum colored laser blast beamed from the satellite right towards Master Magic, who had his finger tips on the nuclear reactor. Master Magic was struck in the back and screamed in agony, as the platinum laser blast cut deep into his form. In the distance, Don activated another button, which created a modified magnetic effect, that began to drag Master Magic away. He attempted to vainly pull free, but he was latched on tight, a sizzling sound echoed through the air, as he quickly was pulled towards the Battle Shell. Don tilted the satellite up, pointing it towards the sky.

"No, I have power, I have it, you can't defeat me, I am magic!" screamed Master Magic but Don just pushed enough button on the remote, which broadcasted Master Magic out into the air, painfully ripping apart his consciousness in several hundred different directions, scattering it all over the universe.

At that point, Hailey, Ginny, Draco, Raph, Leo, and Mikey showed up.

"That's the last we'll see of Luther Malfoy," summarized Don.

"Exactly how did you do it then?" asked Leo.

"I broadcasted him into the air, in small pieces," commented Don. "Not sure it was going to work, but glad it did."

"Fortunately it did," said Mikey. "Otherwise, the entire city would have been toast."

"Well it wouldn't have worked all that well if he hadn't been depowered slightly when Hailey tricked him to attack her," remarked Don and Hailey took a mocking bow at her handy work.

"Yeah Hailey, I suspect Harry would have been rather pleased with the way you handle that and in fact we all are," said Ginny, as the others nodded in agreement, except for Draco, who looked rather irritated.

"Yes, you might have defeated him, but you lost my magic," said Draco. "Inept fools, now I'll be forced to live out the rest of my life as a squib."

"Well Malfoy, that's almost enough for you to make up for you trying to kill Harry," said Ginny.

"Yes, almost, but not quite, I have a feeling that the American Wizarding Government would like to see the person who attempted to kill one of their most prominent citizens," said Hailey, as they forced Malfoy forward, to properly pay for his crimes.

"Wait a minute, I helped you defeat the squib, don't I deserve any credit," demanded Draco.

"If by help you mean you cowered in the shadows while everyone else did all the work, then you helped, but you're not getting off that easy Malfoy, so move it," said Raph, glaring at Draco, who gulped as the tempered turtle was staring down at him. Draco Malfoy had both lost his magic and would be put away for a very long time. A fitting end to a not so fitting human being.

Back at the Potter Residence, Hailey had the Black Phantom costume cradled in her arms as she walked towards the fire. In an instant, Hailey dumped the costume into the fire. She watched it burn as she turned to Ginny, who stood behind her.

"What made you decide?" asked Ginny simply.

"Well, tonight, I helped beat Master Magic and when it happened, it was Hailey Potter who did it, not the Black Phantom," commented Hailey lightly. "I think I'm good enough to stand on my own and to be honest, I'm no longer a little girl who needs to play dress up anymore."

"I've been telling you that for months Hailey," said Ginny.

"I know, and you're right," remarked Hailey as she watched the costume turn to ash, not regretting what she had done one bit. It was the past and it was time to move on towards the future.


	15. Chapter 15: Accension of Lady Shredder I

**Chapter Fifteen: The Ascension of Lady Shredder Part One:**

A group of robed figures appeared in Hogsmeade, moving right towards the Hog's Head.

"The Death Eaters are sure to meet here," muttered one of the figures, craning his neck to ensure they were not being followed and the leader nodded in agreement.

"Yes, that's what my contact said, if we attack them, we can give You-Know-Who some problems, they're trafficking rare Potions ingredients in their, some of which he needs to control some of his dark creatures," said the group leader.

"You do realize that if he catches us, we'll be killed," remarked one of the robed figures, a female apprehensively, in a hushed voice, as they moved forward.

"It has to be done, if it brings us closer to us not living in fear, then it's well worth it," said the group leader, as they moved forward. "Plus, this is in the name of Harry Potter, we need to send a message to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named."

At that moment, the door was blown open, as a group of Death Eaters looked up. One staggered up, an attempt to fight back, but had a little too much to drink, so he was floored with a quick stunner. Another Death Eater attempted a flesh rotting curse, but his aim was off, as the attacker had quickly taken the attacker down, blasting him backwards into a row of bottles. The glass shattered as fire whiskey dripped to the ground. Another Death Eater pressed the mark on his forearm.

"The raid's a bust, he's called for back up!" yelled one of the rebels, but the leader had quickly took down the Death Eater who had called for the attack, with a slicing charm to the throat. Several of the rebel attackers had blasted as many high impact spells as they could, before making their way towards the exit, but it was blocked by the unsmiling form of Lord Voldemort, who had several Ministry Aurors with him.

"It's him," muttered one of the Rebels.

"You will find that all the escape routes from this building have been sealed off, this attack was extremely foolish on your behalf," commented Voldemort coldly, as the Aurors had their wands trained on the rebels. "A pathetic attempt to get my attention, well it was rather foolish on your part. I can see that you're nothing but Mudbloods attempting to rise up to stop the establishment. I can assure you that it will not work, as the corpse of Harry Potter, rotting at the bottom of Hogwarts Lake is proof enough of that. I am Lord Voldemort, I rule Wizarding Britain and in time, the entire world will bow before me. But, in the meantime, I believe that sentencing you all to the Dementor's Kiss will serve as a reminder to those who question those worthy to rule. Now drop your wands."

One of the rebels attempted to attack Voldemort with an organ explosion curse, but Voldemort lazily deflected it before he shot a jet of orange light at the attacker. The attacker screamed as each of his organs slowly inflamed before they burst and he dropped to the ground motionless. Voldemort turned, bored and slightly indifferent, as the others seemed to get the hint that attempting a direct attack on the Dark Lord was a stupid move. The Aurors lead the rebels away, they had failed many others and most importantly, they had failed the memory of the late Harry Potter.

Voldemort watched the Aurors take the group way. This was not the first attack and while minimal damage had been done, all attacks had ended the same way, failure. It was rather interesting that despite the fact that Voldemort had taken over the Ministry of Magic and Hogwarts, there were those who attempted to defy his authority. Mudbloods had fled into hiding, Voldemort wished to purge all undesirable traces and eventually in the long term, wipe out every single Muggle in Britain. Then, there would be no need to hide and perhaps then Lord Voldemort would be accepted as the supreme ruler of all of Wizarding Britain. Not that anyone could stop him, with both Potter and Dumbledore eliminated, there was no one who had the power and could inspire the support to stop him.

Voldemort smirked, his eyes looking into the distance. The world was slowly falling into his hands and soon, once enough able Death Eaters had been trained through the new education system at Hogwarts, he would be able to extend his power. Every magical government in the world would fall one by one to the power of the Dark Lord Voldemort and every Muggle in those countries would be wiped out. It would take time, but as long as he had the Horcruxes, he had all the time in the world.

Back in New York at the lair, Leo, Mikey, Don, and Raph had just concluded a rather intense training session under the watchful eye of Master Splinter. They collapsed down, rather tired, ready to finally call it a night. Mikey caught sight of the calendar, before frowning.

"What is it Mikey?" asked Leo.

"First day of Spring, I really thought after all of this, Harry would have returned," said Mikey.

"Yeah, he has been gone all winter," commented Don. "He is coming back, isn't he?"

"He's got to be," added Raph and Master Splinter nodded, leaning on his walking stick as he turned to address his four oldest sons.

"Harry shall return, when it is right for him to return, he's off to seek answers, answer that even I am hard pressed to comprehend," said Master Splinter as leaned on his walking stick. "Such things take much time and I am confident that when Harry should return, it will have to be on his own accord."

"Still, he's taking a lot of time, but given the fact that Voldemort nearly killed him, I suppose it's too be expected," said Leo as the others nodded in agreement. "I do wonder what he's doing now."

On a rickety bridge in Japan, Harry was sitting side by side with the Ancient One, both deep in meditation. Over the past few months, through training and much time to think alone, Harry had purged many of the demons that had manifested in recent time. There were still a couple of lingering issues bothering Harry, but for the most part, he was a lot more at ease with himself and his abilities. He also had a clearer picture of what needed to be done and where he stood about his future about how he would precede involving Voldemort, along with several other elements in his life. The conclusions that Harry had managed to figure out, after all the time he got to think, after spending a substantial amount time removed from either the chaotic elements of New York City or Hogwarts, had given him a fresh perspective on everything around him.

The Ancient One sat right by Harry and at the instant, he saw a vision of the gauntlet of the Shredder raise up into the air and slash forward. The eccentric old man's eyes snapped open as he gasped in horror at what he saw.

"Harry you must go now, get up, go, leave, bye-bye," said the Ancient One in an urgent voice as he turned to Harry, who looked taken aback.

"Wait now, I didn't think we were quite done, a couple more weeks sure, but I'm sure there is something else I must learn," said Harry but the Ancient One regarded him with a serious expression.

"Listen Harry, it is imperative you must leave now, your entire family may be in grave danger," said the Ancient One and Harry quickly rose to his feet, before he bolted off. It what the Ancient One said was true, he needed to get back to New York as soon as humanely possible.

Back at the lair, a loud blaring alarm went off, causing the Turtles and Master Splinter to look up in confusion. Don moved forward to investigate the source of the confusion, but the alarm suddenly stopped blaring.

"Wait a minute, that alarm isn't supposed to shut off, unless I do so," commented Don as his eyes widened in realization and suddenly, he became positively mortified when he realized what had happened. "Unless someone just deactivated our external defense systems!"

At that moment, a loud bang echoed from outside the lair. Another loud smash and this caused the entire group to tense up, ready for anything. The entrance to the lair smashed open and a large robot, controlled by a member of the Foot Technician team smashed through, followed by two more robots and then an entire army of at least one hundred Foot Ninjas, dressed in slightly altered outfits, who turned to face the group inside the lair, all of which who were shocked and mortified.

"The Foot?" gasped Leo, as he finally found his voice. "But how…how…"

"How did they find us?" inquired Don in a shocked voice but Raph's eyes snapped up.

"It doesn't matter that they found us, the fact is they found us," said Raph firmly, as he held up his weapons. "Now, let's show them the door!"

The Foot quickly moved forward, weapons drawn, to attack their enemies but the Turtles and Master Splinter were ready for this attack. Mikey dodged around, before he swung his nunchucks, dropping a couple of Foot Ninjas, but another one of the assassins knocked Mikey into the wall. Leo moved around and broke the sword of one of his attackers, but the ninja quickly sprung up. The katana wielding terrapin just barely dodged a kick, before coming back and flipping the ninja into another pair sneaking up behind him, but they leapt out of the way. Quickly, the assassins knocked Leo to the ground. Don moved over, but a pair of Kusari-Gama chains whipped out of nowhere, wrapping around Don's feet and causing him to fall onto his face. Master Splinter rushed over and used his walking stick to plow over the ninjas, before he was knocked from behind with a kick. Splinter quickly rebounded and spun around, using his walking stick to block the attacks of his opponent, but another ninja struck him from behind.

"GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!" yelled Raph as he bounced off the wall, before he floored a ninja, before angrily throwing another one to the ground, as Mikey rushed over, to join Raph. The crack of wood against jawbone dropped another Foot member, as Leo moved over to block the attack of the blades that were aimed towards the back of Mikey's head, pushing them back.

"Something's off, the Foot seems to be even stronger than the last time we had fought them," grunted Leo, as he slid to the side, to give himself room to fight, before he stabbed at a ninja, but the ninja spun around the couch and kicked Leo in the shell, knocking him to the ground. The attacker sprung up, sword extended but Leo blocked it, before Don sprung forward and knocked the ninja to the side, before he quickly had to spin around to drop another Foot Ninja.

"Yes, I can see so," said Don as he ducked a jab with a spear, before he dropped the ninja with a well placed swing of his Bo Staff. Another one moved forward, but Don managed to expertly swerve around to take him out as well "Much better trained…"

Don blocked a punch, before he rammed his elbow down onto the arm, with Leo finishing him off with a kick to the chest. The Foot Ninjas scrambled up to their feet, before stepping towards the door, as the Turtles and Master Splinter faced off against them, the three Foot Mechs moving in front of the army of ninjas. A cloud of smoke signaled the teleportation of the four Foot Elite Guards, dressed in new armor, complete with new silver mushroom hats. Through the smoke, the silhouette of the Shredder appeared, causing all five ninjas to gasp in shock.

"The Shredder, no it can't be, it just can't," stammered Mikey in a horrified voice.

"He was finished off by Harry, we saw it, we saw the remains, he's dead!" shouted Raph in a disbelieving voice as the others stood ready, before the figure began to address them, as the smoke cleared.

"Oroku Saki may be dead thanks to you, but the mantle of the Shredder lives on through me," declared a very familiar voice as the Shredder stepped from the mist and removed the helmet to reveal the face of Karai, causing the group to gasp in absolute shock.

"So the daughter of Oroku Saki becomes the Shredder, but why?" demanded Splinter, eyes narrowed as he looked at Karai.

"Certain honor dictates this, Splinter-San, to avenge the death of my father, a murder that all of you played a role in, especially Harry Potter," said Karai, before she looked around. "Where is he?"

"Not here," said Raph in an unhelpful voice.

"Yeah you kind of missed him, but if you leave right now, we'll make sure we tell him you stopped by when he comes back," said Mikey but Karai was not amused. Far from it in fact, as she clenched her fist, before she turned to face the group.

"You mock me, the fact that each and every one of you still leaves mocks my very existence, mocks the legacy of the Foot, of the Shredder," said Karai as she put the helmet back on. "But now, I'm going to make you all pay. Foot Ninja attack, destroy them all!"

One of the Foot Mechs fired up and shot a large jet of laser fire right at the group, causing them to scatter. The Foot and the Foot Elite rushed forward. Leo dodged the axe shot of the Foot Elite member, before pushing him backwards and knocking him to the ground, but he was impacted in the back by a pair of kicks. Raph rushed over but was knocked to the ground by a Foot Ninja. Quickly, Raph sprung back up and dropped his foe with a kick, before he flipped over and took out another ninja. Leo rushed over, and assisted Raph, as Don dodged around a jet of laser fire, before just barely blocking a dagger to the throat. Quickly, he pulled the rug out from underneath the ninja he was facing, causing the attacker to drop to the ground. In an instant, Don propelled himself high into the air with a Bo Staff and dropped a couple of ninjas that were stalking a downed Leo. Leo quickly got up and swiped his sword but his opponent blocked the attack. Mikey ducked in from the side and dropped one of Foot Ninjas, as Master Splinter cracked his walking stick across the kneecaps of a ninja that charged in. More laser blasts fired, connecting with the entertainment system in the lair.

"NO, MY BATTLE NEXUS TROPHY!" shrieked Mikey in horror, as he watched the glass trophy shatter into bits, as a miniature rocket blasted right towards him, but he had a presence of mind to launch a nearby Foot Ninja into the way, causing the ninja to be blown to bits. Mikey's triumphant was short lived as two of the Foot Elite guards grabbed him from behind and the third raised his spear, but Raph quickly rolled in, blocking it with his Sais, before Mikey managed to twist out and drop one of the Elite Guards to the ground. Mikey spun around but the Elite Guard blocked his attack. Splinter charged in and dropped his sons attacker, as more explosions echoed throughout the lair, causing several possessions to be destroyed in the process.

Leo watched as Don was pinned underneath the overturned couch, with Foot Ninjas stalking him. Quickly, Leo sprung up, managing to deflect a thrown shuriken in mid air, before he cracked his knees right into the faces of his opponents. Leo dropped down and flipped a ninja right into the wall, causing him to hit with a crack. Dodging around, Leo leapt up and brought the katana down onto the top of the head of another attacker. Blood sprayed everywhere as the ninja dropped to the ground. In an instant, Leo moved over and managed to pull the couch off of Don.

"Okay bro," said Leo but Don nodded, before his eyes widened.

"LOOK OUT LEO!" yelled Don and Leo turned around, to get cracked in the face by a swung iron mace. Leo dropped to the ground with a thud, but Don quickly rushed over and swung his Bo Staff, dropping the ninja. A burst of laser forced Don to dodge around, as Raph just managed to push an attacker back as he was pinned against the wall. The hot head terrapin grabbed his opponent by the head and twisted it. A loud crack and the ninja dropped to the ground but Raph winced as he was pierced right in the shell by an arrow shot by the ninja. Staggered, Raph dodged around, wounded but managed to throw his Sai at the ninja, disarming him of the crossbow, before he managed to remove the arrow from his shell, wincing as the blood dripped down to the ground. The distraction nearly caused Raph to be stabbed in the neck from behind but he quickly spun around, blocking the sword with his lone Sai, but Master Splinter used the walking stick to drop Raph's opponent from the other side.

Splinter walked forward, eyes widened in horror, as his room had been ripped open and he saw a very precious possession of his lying on the floor.

"Master Yoshi's orb," muttered Splinter, as he rushed forward to save it but Karai stepped from the shadows, before callously stepping on the orb, shattering it to pieces of glass and Splinter's eyes widened, as he began breathing very heavily, as he slowly looked up to face Karai. "Why?"

"You ruthlessly attacked my father and you dare ask why!" thundered Karai angrily. "This is only the beginning, I will destroy everything you and your family hold dear, to make you pay for what you did, I am honor bound to do so."

"Oroku Saki was a murderer, he killed my Master Yoshi, he had no honor!" shouted Splinter angrily as he rushed Karai, but Karai casually dodged the shot, before she sliced Splinter's arm. The sleeve ripped and Splinter winced, as his arm was cut. "You're faster than him, I will give you that…"

Splinter attempted to use his walking stick, but Karai blocked it, before another shot had broke it in half. Quickly, she grabbed Splinter and punched him viciously, dropping the rat master to the ground. A rib shattering kick caused Splinter to groan in pain, as he dropped to his knees, in a semi-conscious state, as Karai hoisted him up by the robes, before she raised her gauntlet.

"And now, rodent, I will make you pay for your treacherous tongue," said Karai, who was beyond all reason at the moment, fueled by vengeance, to avenge the murder of her father. She moved in for the kill, but Leo quickly blocked her shot, causing her to drop Splinter in surprise. Leo moved around and Karai blocked another blow from Leo's katana.

"Listen, the Shredder had to be killed, he was going to enslave or even kill the Utroms if we let him go," pleaded Leo, but Karai had knocked Leo backwards to the ground, before she attempted to impale him with the gauntlet, but Leo dodged around, before he blocked the attack.

"None of you had any right to interfere!" yelled Karai angrily, as she attempted to slash the gauntlet right into Leo's throat, but Leo blocked it, before he slashed the katana right at her armor. Karai just took a step back, before charging Leo, but Leo ducked before he sprung up and knocked Karai backwards with a kick. Much to his horror, Karai landed on her feet, as Raph, Mikey, and Don continued to struggle against the armies of Foot Ninjas.

"Guys, we can't defeat them not now, we're too weakened, we need to split up, regroup," said Leo, who saw Master Splinter pull himself to his feet, his master looked in a bad way, he could barely stand. Leo caught him before he fell to the ground, as Karai moved forward, but Leo dodged her attack, before kicking her into the room and pulling the door shut, as he dragged Master Splinter out, eying the Shell Sub in the pool in the lair, leading to the underground river and then out to the ocean. "Don, take Master Splinter in the Shell Sub, get him as far away from here, he needs medical attention."

Don nodded, as he fought through a quartet of Foot Ninjas, while Leo mowed some of them down with his Katanas, but there were still too many of them to fight. Don wedged his Bo Staff underneath a half destroyed chair and catapulted it into the air. The Foot scattered, as Leo passed Master Splinter off to Don. Don held Master Splinter, whose knees buckled, his eyes glazed over, barely able to breath.

"Hang on Master Splinter, this could get tricky," muttered Don urgently, as he jumped on top of the Shell Sub. A pair of Foot Ninjas joined him, but Don quickly knocked them off, causing the ninjas to fall off and splash into the water. Instantly, before more could follow, Don helped Master Splinter inside, before entering himself and the sub submerged into the depths below.

Meanwhile, Mikey battled with several of the Foot Ninjas, dodging around the attacks, just barely avoiding a dagger piercing into his heel, when he heard the frantic meows of his cat, Klunk. Who had been isolated, fearfully high above the lair.

"Klunk!" shouted Mikey, as he used the heads of the Foot Ninjas as a catapult to retrieve his cat. "Hang on buddy, Mikey's here, don't worry?"

Mikey quickly collected Klunk, who looked absolutely petrified, before the Foot moved into to attack Mikey. Just barely, Mikey dodged the attacks, before he spied the Turtle Tunneler from across the lair. An idea formed in Mikey's head, as he quickly dodged a chain whipped from one of the ninjas, before perfectly somersaulted over the heads of his attackers. Quickly, Mikey opened the Turtle Tunneler, and entered, the bodies of the Foot Ninjas slamming against it, as they used their weapons to get inside.

"Hang on Klunk, we're leaving," said Mikey, as he buckled himself in, before he pulled the lever to activated the Tunneler, the drill spinning, as Mikey quickly bolted through the wall, breaking a hole through, with the Foot Ninjas climbing on top of it, with Mikey taking a sharp turn in an attempt to shake them off, as Klunk gave a hiss at his owner's poor driving skills.

At the elevator, Leo and Raph fought off even more Foot Ninjas yet, before they backed inside. Quickly, Leo slammed on the button, activating the mechanism to slam the elevator door shut. The elevator raised up to the warehouse, as both of the brothers let out a collective sigh of relief, having escaped the Foot.

"Okay, all we need to do is get to the Battle Shell and find a way to meet up with the others," muttered Leo as Raph nodded in agreement, before the doors of the elevator slid open in the warehouse, as they were greeted by even more Foot Ninjas yet.

"You have got to be kidding me!" snapped Raph in a disgusted voice, as the ninjas rushed forward, to attack the two Turtles. Raph dodged around, as Leo combated the Foot, blocking their attacks, before Raph managed to push a stack of crates over, forcing the Foot to back off. This only worked for a few seconds, as the Foot kept coming at them, absolutely relentless with their attacks.

"Raph, get to the Battle Shell, try to get out," grunted Leo as he blocked the attacks of the Foot, before knocking them backwards and Raph reluctantly moved towards the Battle Shell. Quickly, Raph entered it and just shut the door, before several shuriken were flicked towards him, impacted in the side of the Battle Shell.

The ninjas moved towards the Battle Shell, but Leo quickly moved around, blocking their attempts to advance upon Raph, as he drove the vehicle out of the warehouse.

Back in the lair, Karai turned to the remaining Foot Ninjas, in particular the Foot Mech robots.

"Find the Turtles, hunt them down, and destroy them!" ordered Karai. "And tear this filthy place to the ground, leaving nothing left standing."

The Foot Mechs began firing lasers and rockets in the lair, blowing the lair and everything in to bits, as Karai nodded approvingly at the destruction she had caused. Within a matter of moments, the lair had been absolutely obliterated and soon those who had lived inside it would suffer a similar fate.

In the waters, Don piloted the Sewer Sub and breathed a sigh of relief, as Splinter rested in the seat beside him.

"I think we lost them," commented Don in a relieved voice, before several underwater vehicles, complete with Foot Ninjas dressed in scuba gear came out of an underwater cave and blasted towards the Sewer Sub, firing at it. "Or not."

Quickly, Don accelerated the Sub and blasted forwards, dodging the fire from his underwater pursuers. It seemed that the technology on the vehicles matched and was extremely close to outstripping that of which Don created the Shell Sub with. More near misses caused Don to push the Shell Sub to its absolute limits.

"There's no way we can outrun them and I don't have enough firepower on this thing to stop all of them, unless…" stated Don, before he trailed off, looking on thoughtfully at the ocean floor. "Hang on Master Splinter."

Don readjusted the Shell Sub and blasted several torpedoes towards the floor, causing dust to kick up, as a hole was created. Quickly, Don readjusted the Battle Shell and dived down, into the hole, as the Foot piloted their vehicles over, looking down to investigate the matter but suddenly, the Shell Sub rose back up out of the hole. Quickly, before it could leave once again, several missiles were launched directly at the Shell Sub. A direct hit connected with the sub, as it blew it several pieces, the wreckage falling slowly to the ocean floor.

"Mistress Karai, Donatello and the rat have been finished," reported one of the Foot Ninjas, as he watched the destroyed wreckage of the ship hit bottom.

"Excellent," replied Karai in a satisfied tone of voice.

On the streets, the Battle Shell flew at top speeds, but a Foot Helicopter was right on top of it. Raph groaned, as he had it floored, yet the Foot copter remained on his tail, despite being at over one hundred miles per hour. The pilot of the helicopter pointed a rocket launcher, as Raph took a sharp corner in an attempt to shake him off, but the Foot Ninja would not be denied. It aimed straight for the Battle Shell and launched its rockets right towards the back, directly impacted the Battle Shell. The vehicle flipped over several times, the windows shattering, before it burst into flames. The pilot looked down before he nodded, as the flames whipped up into the air.

"Raphael has been destroyed," reported the Foot Ninja.

"Excellent," said Karai, as two of the Turtles and the rat had been knocked off, with two more to go.

On the rooftops, Leo jumped away, as a trio of Foot Ninjas pursued him. He looked over his shoulder, in an attempt to shake them off, but this was to no avail whatsoever. So, Leo did the only logical thing, he turned to face his attackers. Quickly, he moved forward, swinging his katana, but his attack was blocked. Another member of the Foot had leapt up but Leo quickly swept his leg from underneath, before pushing back to the attack. Unfortunately, a chain caught Leo right in the back of the head, dropping him. Leo rolled out of the way of a sword stab but one of the ninja threw black powder in the air, causing Leo to stagger backwards, temporarily blinded, before getting vicious kicked over the side of the building. In an instant, Leo hung on for dear life, as one of the Foot Ninjas held up an explosive device and caused it to latch onto the building. Leo attempted to struggle up, but a large explosion blew off the side of the building that Leo was hanging onto, causing a large pile of bricks to fall forward.

The Foot looked down and saw that Leo was not moving, as from all indications, he had been buried alive. After another moment, one of the ninjas checked in with Karai, reporting of the demise of another one of their enemies.

"Leonardo has met his end," summarized the ninja.

"Excellent, most excellent," replied Karai calmly from the other end of the communication line.

The Turtle Tunneler crashed through another sewer wall, but a large Foot Mech was in pursuit of it, about ready to catch up to it. A sharp turn was taken, but no matter what, Mikey could not shake off the Foot Mech, as it got closer, firing a laser blast that came perilous inches from frying Mikey. The Turtle Tunneler took a sharp turn, nearly turning over into the water below, but managed to readjust it. The Foot Mech pointed its missile launcher and blasted the Tunneler right in the back. Another attack, the Tunneler flipped over, before it slammed into the wall. A sewer pipe fell down from the impact, crushing the Tunneler, as the operator of the Foot Mech moved over, to investigate the wreckage.

"Foot Mech Three to base, Michelangelo is finished," remarked the Foot Mech operator, as he surveyed the obliterated wreckage.

In the streets above, right across from the Potter Residence, a determined and quite intense look was etched on Karai's face.

"And now, all that stands is Harry Potter and then my father can properly be avenged," remarked Karai, as while she could not enter the Potter home because of the magical protections around it to gain answers on Potter's whereabouts, her message could be communicated in other ways.

A very tired Lily sat at the kitchen table, having returned from visiting Alexandra. The others had been in bed for hours and she was about ready to call it a night, when she heard the crash of shattering glass. Quickly, with her wand drawn, Lily rose to her feet, bolting towards the living room of the house, as she saw a note tied to a rectangular shaped object. In an instant, Lily checked the note to make sure it was not cursed, before she picked it up and unfolded it.

_To Whom This May Concern_

_Inform Harry Potter That I Have Killed His Family and the Moment I See Him, He'll Next. _

_Sincerely,_

_Karai_

Lily gasped, as she dropped the object which was revealed to be the twisted, distorted, and quite charred "Home, Sweet, Sewer" sign that was kept down in the lair.


	16. Chapter 16:Accension of Lady Shredder II

**Chapter Sixteen: The Ascension of Lady Shredder Part Two:**

A figure quickly dropped down through a manhole to the sewer below. Stepping out of the shadows, the figure revealed himself to be Harry Potter. Taking a few cautious steps forward, Harry moved towards the lair, hoping that he was not too late. Still, if what the Ancient One said was true, then he had to watch his step, just in case there was something dangerous down here. Quickly, Harry stepped into the shadows and saw the entrance to the lair completely destroyed. Eyes widened, Harry rushed forward to investigate the source and when he entered the lair, he saw it was completely destroyed.

"Guys, Master Splinter, anyone!" hissed Harry in a low voice, as he looked around, but the lair appeared to be completely destroyed and deserted. Quickly, Harry levitated some rubble out of the way and saw a ripped piece of cloth lying underneath it, with an extremely familiar symbol, the symbol of the Foot.

A loud humming noise brought Harry out of his thoughts and the Boy-Who-Lived found himself having to dodge a blast of heavy laser fire from high above. Quickly, Harry ducked and dodged, as he attempted to get a fix on what he was dealing with and from high above, he saw a Foot Mech. The operator of the Mech, spotting that Harry had seen him, armed the robot and shot a rocket at Harry. Harry was too quick and he banished the rocket back at his opponent. The operator's eyes widened as he was blown right to the ground, which Harry quickly leapt on top of the downed Mech and shattered the glass with well placed blasting curse, before he grabbed the operator by the throat.

"Where are they?" demanded Harry quickly, staring right at the Foot Mech operator's face. "Who did this?"

"You'll never get anything out of me," replied the Foot Mech operator in a definite voice, as he slammed his fist into a button that caused the Mech to begin to vibrate. Quickly, Harry leapt off, the fool had activated the auto destruct feature. Putting a shield charm over him, Harry watched the Mech blow to pieces, along with the operator inside. Wreckage and blood splattered in every direction of the lair.

Harry stepped back to survey the situation. By distracting his adversary with what was put across as an act of mindless rage, Harry had managed to pull enough information out of the mind of his enemy to figure out what happened. What he learned Karai had been the architect behind the attack on the lair, which his brothers and Master Splinter had been killed, with Harry being the only one left that Karai wanted finished off, in order to avenge her father. Also, Foot Ninjas were watching the Potter Residence rather closely, but Harry did have more than one way inside there, that could get around any Foot involvement. The more pressing issue was what exactly happened to his family. As Harry had learned, things were never as they seemed.

Quickly, Harry moved from the lair, keeping on the move, in the off chance that more representatives of the Foot behind. The last thing Harry wanted was to be captured before he could properly find out the truth about whether or not his family perished. If they did, then Harry would have to deal with that situation, but there was also a chance that they were badly injured and needed to be rescued.

On the rooftop of Foot Tower, Karai stood looking out in the sky. So far, no sighting of Harry Potter, but she had agents watching the Potter Home and the moment Potter was spotted outside, they were ordered to capture Potter, destroy him only if absolutely necessary. Karai wished to do that personally, to properly avenge her father, to kill the individual who ruthlessly murdered him. The fact that Harry Potter was considered a hero to many rather sickened Karai to her stomach. She saw him nothing more than a murderer, who really had no business in constantly interfering in Foot business in any way. As questionable as some of Oroku Saki's business activities may have been, Potter had no right to play judge, jury, and executor regarding him.

At that moment, one of Karai's Foot agents walked up in front of her.

"Report," commented Karai shortly.

"Mistress Karai, the Foot Mech stationed at the lair of the Turtles has activated it's auto destruct feature, but one final transmission was given out, signaling that Harry Potter had visited the lair during that time," replied the agent and Karai nodded calmly.

"Send some ninja to the sewers, it is possible that Potter still may be down there, find him and capture him, he must pay for the Shredder's death with his life," ordered Karai and the agent nodded before walking off to do as he was instructed, as Karai looked up into the sky. "Tonight Father, your memory will be truly and completely avenged."

Harry swam deep below, head incased in a bubble headed charm. Something drew Harry to this particular body of water and he looked around, spotting a fuel trail in the water. Quickly, Harry used his arms and legs to propel himself forward and magically created a light in the water, spotting the overturned Shell Sub, partially sunk in the ocean floor. Moving down, Harry surveyed the damage of the Shell Sub, it had been impacted by several missiles from the looks of things and he pulled back the doors, with some effort.

No one was inside the wreckage of the Sub, living or dead, so Harry made his way quickly out of the water, cancelling the Bubble Head charm, before he walked out of the water. Looking around to ensure that there was no one looking nearby, Harry spotted an oxygen tank laying on the beach. In an instant, Harry picked up the tank, investigating it.

"Empty," muttered Harry as he placed the tank on the ground. "Okay I know have all the pieces that I need to know about what happened, now I need to find a way to piece them together, to something that makes sense, just like the Ancient One said. Concentrate on what happened and my mind should do the rest."

Harry sat down cross legged and closed his eyes in meditation, as a vision of the events of that lead to the trashing of the Shell Sub had began to piece themselves together.

_The Shell Sub zoomed through the water below, the Foot on their tails, shooting at them. Don looked downwards, before he pointed the Sub downwards. Missiles fired down, blowing a hole in the Ocean Floor. Quickly, the Sub submerged into the hole created, as Don opened an emergency exit hatch from the bottom of the Sub. Punching into the computer, Don set the ship to resubmerge within thirty seconds, before he grabbed Master Splinter and an oxygen tank, helping him to the exit. They dropped down, with Don slamming the exit hatch shut, just as the Shell Sub rose out of the water and was completely obliterated by a series of blasts from the underground vehicle from the Foot. _

_On the ocean floor, obscured by some underwater weeds, Don and Master Splinter watched the Foot report to Karai before moving off. Splinter used the oxygen tank to take a breath, before they cauctiouslessly swam off before the Foot came to investigate the wreckage more thoroughly. _

Harry's eyes quickly snapped open and he spotted something on the ground, that he had not noticed, because they were so faint and it was dark outside that it was not noticeable at first. Quickly, Harry lit up the ground in a magically created infrared light, spotting foot prints, leading to a warehouse off the shore. Two sets of foot prints that looked very much that looked very much that they belonged to a large rat and a large turtle. Sticking to the shadows, Harry made his way slowly and cautiously, creeping towards the warehouse. Harry flicked his wrist towards the key hole and the door clicked open. The young warrior made his way inside the warehouse.

Don looked up, having brought Master Splinter to the warehouse so he could rest up, before they could try and find the others. He saw a figure moving in the shadows and pulled out his Bo Staff, pointing it towards them.

"Who's there, step out where I can see you?" challenged Don and as a result, Harry stepped from the shadows, and Don breathed a sigh of relief. "Harry, I'm glad it's only you and not someone else, but the others…"

"We'll find them Don, but I need to get you to a safe place right away, if the Foot catches up and the lair's out of the question obviously, because the Foot knows about it," said Harry quickly, but he was at least relieved that some of his family were safe, this gave Harry hope that the others would be as well, before he looked around. "Where's Master Splinter?"

"Right here, my son," said Master Splinter in a weak, tired voice, as he walked forward, looking much older than Harry had remembered. Don handed Master Splinter his Bo Staff to use as a crutch to old the rat. "Shall we go then."

The group made their way to the back exit of the factory and quickly climbed down the manhole, to the sewers. Not seconds later, a group of Foot Ninjas had passed, shining flashlights all around to look for Harry. Had they arrived seconds later, they would have gotten them, but Harry, Don, and Master Splinter were already down a tunnel in the sewers, making their way deep into the sewers, to find a safe place.

Harry pulled back a piece of wood, revealing an unused and mostly forgotten part of the sewer, a bit lower than where the old lair was located.

"Wow, it looks like an old reservoir pumping station, from the turn of the century, this place hasn't been used for many years," commented Don and Harry nodded, as they moved forward, towards a wooden door in the lair. Harry pushed it open and sure enough, Don's hunch was correct, as it was in fact an abandoned pumping station, several pieces of long forgotten, dusty equipment, with several platforms stationed throughout.

"This place will serve us well Harry," said Master Splinter in a tired voice, as he sat down against a water pump. "Now, time is of the essence, go and find the others, time is off the essence."

Harry nodded, before he quickly walked off, leaving Master Splinter and Don to recoup, as Harry returned from the underground pumping system, back into the main sewers.

Back in the sewers, Harry looked around before he spotted a fuel trail. Following the trail, it lead Harry to the Turtle Tunneler, crushed slightly from the sewage pipe that had swung down upon it. Harry stepped forward, noticing the beating that the Tunneler had suffered, the side hatch blocked by the wreckage. As he levitated the wreckage away, Harry looked inside, it was open and once again no one was inside the Tunneler. Looking around, Harry shut his eyes once again, deep in concentration, in attempt to fit together what evidence that was left to go to him and once again, his mind began to bring up a vision of what happened.

_The Turtle Tunneler propelled himself down the sewers, chased by a Foot Mech. Mikey looked over his shoulder, his cat Klunk looking rather fearful, as the turtle attempted a reckless move in an attempt to shake his pursuer off, but the Foot Mech continued to move in hot pursuit. As they reached an underground body of water, Mikey wondered if he could get away. He floored the Tunneler, before he picked up Klunk, steering the Tunneler towards the water. Tucking Klunk underneath his shoulders, Mikey activated the autopilot before he threw himself out the side entrance, dropping into the water and quickly leaping into the tunnel to the side, watching the Foot Mech chasing the empty Turtle Tunneler down the sewer. The Turtle Tunneler was shot at, the shots connecting as it smashed into the wall. The impact dislodged the sewage pipe which crushed the Turtle Tunneler, as the Foot Mech moved forward, the pilot looking down at the wreckage, before reporting in. _

_Off to the side, Mikey watched the Foot Mech off, with Klunk remaining quiet. Quickly, Mikey moved off, just in case the Foot came back to do a more through investigation. _

Harry's eyes snapped up, before he directed his movement towards the tunnel where he saw Mikey and Klunk disappear to. Walking forward, Harry saw candy wrappers and half eaten bags of potato chips, along with an opened can of cat food, evidence that they could not be far at all. Harry walked a few more steps and he saw Mikey laying in an alcove, with Klunk snoozing on his master's chest. Klunk's eyes opened slightly and he began hissing at the approaching form of Harry.

"Klunk, it's just me, Harry," said Harry, as he reached forward and absent mindedly scratched the cat behind the ears, in an attempt to pacify it. When Klunk had recognized him, the cat purred and Harry nudged Mikey. "Mikey, c'mon, rise and shine, time to get up."

"Huh, no Master Splinter, I don't want to go to school today," mumbled Mikey and Harry blasted a jet of cold water in Mikey's face, which woke him up. "Oh, Harry, you're back, the Foot, they attacked the lair…"

"I know, I heard, I found Don and Master Splinter, I'll take you to where they are and then I can find Raph and Leo, so we can properly plan our next move," said Harry, as he helped Mikey out towards the water pumping session, Mikey obviously was still a bit rattled from the fight from the Foot, as he needed Harry's assistance to remain upright.

Back on the surface, Harry found himself drawn to the building where Leo had been fighting to the Foot. As he stepped forward, Harry saw the pile of bricks and saw a charred form of an explosive device. Harry levitated the explosive, examining it closely to get a better look. From all indications, it looked like it could pack quite a punch and wondered exactly how much of a chance anyone stood. Shifting through the wreckage, Harry spotted something peculiar sticking out, a piece of katana and looking closely, Harry found that it lead to a manhole cover, which had finger prints on it, like it had been recently pulled back on. Kneeling down, it looked like it matched a turtle, no question about it. Bending down, Harry closed his eyes, once again attempting to get a feel on what happened, attempting to mentally patch everything together in a logical manner

_Leo clung to the side of the building, as he saw the Foot Ninjas stalk him, before they pulled out explosive devices. It was going to be rather tricky to dodge this, but Leo looked down, spying a manhole from behind. The explosives struck the side of the building, blasting Leo and forcing him to fall backwards. In an instant, Leo pointed his katana down and rammed it into the manhole cover, his actions clouded by the smoke, as he pried it up. Leo quickly dropped down into the sewer, pulling the lid shut, his katana snapping in the hole, but several bricks buried the area around Leo, causing the Foot to believe he had been destroyed. _

_From above, Leo heard the Foot's report that he was done and heard them walk off. He leaned forward, hanging onto the wall, before climbing towards the vent leading towards the basement of a warehouse. Leo climbed inside, where he could nurse his injuries, before he moved out to check for the rest of his family members. _

Harry's eyes opened and he quickly made his way his way down to the sewers, following the same path that Leo took to go towards his safe hiding place. Climbing through the vent, Harry looked around, hoping that Leo had already not gone off, as there was a chance that Harry might not have been able to find him.

Quickly, Harry turned around and saw a figure moving towards him. For a minute, Harry had feared the worst, Foot Ninjas but he relaxed slightly when he saw Leo move forward, his lone katana held out.

"Harry, I thought it was the Foot for a second, I was just about to go out to see where the others were," stated Leo but Harry looked at his brother with a serious expression, he looked rather banged up as well.

"No need to do that Leo, I've found Don, Mikey, and Master Splinter, I'm going to look for Raph as soon as I show you where they are," said Harry and Leo nodded approvingly, as Harry cauctiouslessly lead the way, once again extremely careful to not run into any Foot Ninjas that may be patrolling the sewer.

Now with Don, Mikey, Leo, and Master Splinter in a safe location, Raph was the only one that Harry had to track down and on the streets below, Harry spotted the overturned form of the Battle Shell, which had taken quite some beating, as there were scorch marks on the side of it and it was slightly melted. Moving forward, Harry saw something out of the corner of his eye that lead from the opposite direction of where the Battle Shell would have turned.

"Shell Cycle tracks," muttered Harry as he looked at them, but the trail ran dry at the side of the bridge, where the battered remains of the Shell Cycle laid. Harry once again shut his eyes, attempting to figure out what exactly happened.

_The Battle Shell zoomed down the road, as the Foot Copter followed it. Raph looked, turning the wheel and jamming his Sai inside it, as he unbuckled himself. He moved forward, putting on his helmet, before he mounted the Shell Cycle and blasted out the back of the Battle Shell like a red blur, heading in the opposite direction that the Battle Shell was turning. Raph launched himself off the bridge and the Foot Copter followed the decoy Battle Shell, arming its missile launchers. Listening intently, Raph heard the Battle Shell blown to bits in the distance. Raph remained under the bridge for quite sometime, before he cauctioulessly climbed up and crossed the bridge, ending up on the other side, at the park, Coney Island. _

Harry's eyes snapped open and he crossed the bridge, knowing exactly where Raph was now. He entered the park, looking around, Raph could not have been all that far, as the cool wind blew through the air. Harry put it out of his mind, he had a job to do and as he watched closer, he saw Raph sitting in the distance, absent mindedly drinking a soda, in a bit of a downer mood but his eyes snapped up, as he saw the approaching figure. Raph's expression lightened when he saw that his youngest brother showed up.

"Harry, I'm glad your here, man, the others, we got split up, Karai got to us, an entire Foot army attacked us and I don't know if they're alive or…" stated Raph as he trailed off not wanting to complete that sentence but Harry gave his brother a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry Raph, they're all fine, and I am as well, but we'll get to that when the time comes," said Harry in relief, as all of them had been found. "They're all resting right now, I'm going to take you there right now."

Raph nodded gruffly, as he followed Harry towards the nearest entry point to the sewer, before they made their way to the new makeshift lair at the water pumping station.

Back at the lair, the group cheerfully reunited, all relieved that everyone had managed to survive their near brush with death at the hands of the Foot. Harry stepped out of the shadows.

"I've had time to do some thinking and perhaps I was wrong about certain things, but that really doesn't matter all much in hindsight, the fact that we're all together and safe is of utmost concern," said Harry and the others were hard pressed not to agree. "Still, this place should be good, perhaps we can fix it up and you should be able to live here relatively comfortably."

"It is nice to see that you've mostly recovered from your ordeals, not that I expected you to ever completely recover, but you are ready to learn from what happened," said Master Splinter and he looked at Harry with a searching glared, seeing a determined look in his eyes, but admittedly less obsessive than the determined look that Harry wore for quite some time previously. "I can see it in your eyes my son, you feel that there is something else that needs to be done, but I must warn you, do not take her lightly, her skill have improved much since your last encounter with her."

"I'm ready for anything Master Splinter," said Harry in a confident, self assured voice, before he turned to the others. "Guys, rest here, I need to run a couple of errands before I return, pick up food and supplies, sit tight and I'll be back by morning."

Without another word, Harry walked off, leaving the others to settle in as best as possible.

On a roof across from the Oroku Saki Memorial Library, Harry, cloaked in the shadows, pulled out a pair of heat-vision goggles. Quickly, he put them on and after shifting through the settings, he saw Foot Headquarters behind the Library, shielded from view with a cloaking device. To the outside world, it was just an empty spot, but Harry knew better. The outside was also patrolled by Foot Tech Ninjas, also rendered visible by the heat-vision goggles. Quickly, Harry conjured a rope with a grappling hook on it out of thin air and swung it around. Successfully, the grapping hook latched onto a gargoyle across the way and Harry looked down, before he swung from the roof of one building, right inside the window of the top floor of the Foot Headquarters skyscraper.

Harry watched Karai kneel before a jade statue of Oroku Saki, the helmet of the Shredder placed beside her, but otherwise, Karai wore a modified version of the armor that her father had. Quickly, Harry removed a dagger from the inside of his robes, he did not wish to attract the attention of hundreds of Foot Ninjas, just send Karai a powerful message. With expert precision, Harry threw the dagger at Karai but at the last second Karai spun around, catching the dagger in her hands.

Harry dropped down into the shadows, eyes narrowed from them, as he looked at Karai, whose eyes also narrowed when she realized who she had seen.

"Potter," said Karai coldly.

"Karai," remarked Harry softly. "I must say, you sent a very powerful message, it really got my attention for sure, that attack on the lair. That was something that not even your disgraced father would not be even bold enough to try."

"Do not speak of my father, Potter, after you killed him but despite that, I find myself rather impressed that you managed to find your way inside," said Karai angrily, as she held a sword, cautiously regarding Harry. "Security is rather airtight but yet I find you here."

Harry just nodded calmly, as he really took Karai's armor in for the first time and could not help but snicker, which needlessly to say did not amuse Karai one bit.

"What is so funny, Potter?" spat Karai in a disgusted tone, she was offended that Potter would find amusement from the situation.

"The fact that with that armor, one would get the impression that you believe you are the Shredder," replied Harry, with a smirk.

"I am now, Potter!" shouted Karai.

"Of course you are, Karai," answered Harry in a patronizing tone of voice.

"Potter, I'm the Shredder and I will be your doom," declared Karai with a wicked look etched on her eyes, as she put the helmet on and pulled out the sword, before she rushed to the attack, but Harry calmly dodged the attack and before Karai turned around, the Boy-Who-Lived ended up on the other side of the room, motioning, almost goading Karai, taunting her to attack him.

Karai raised her sword and rushed at Harry, before she leapt up into the air, in an attempt to split the murder's skull in half, but once again, her opponent had moved out of the way. Looking around, Karai spotted Harry on the other side. She rushed forward, in an attempt to stab Harry in the chest but at the last minute, the Boy-Who-Lived somersaulted into the air and landed by Karai, causing her weapon to be stuck in the wall. Angrily, Karai struggled to pull it out of the wall, but Harry gave a bored yawn, which prompted Karai to abandon her attempts to extract the sword and resume her attack on Harry. A swipe of the gauntlet was avoided when Harry back flipped out of the way and landed on his feet

"Let's face it Karai, you're not mad at me for killing your father, rather, at your inability to save him," suggested Harry and Karai rushed forward, gauntlet extended but Harry once again slid out of the way, before Karai attempted to attack him again, but Harry once again dodged around the attack. "Trust me, it's a place I've been, but sometimes things are out of control, I would highly recommend letting things go, it's unhealthy to dwell on revenge."

"Fight me, you wretched wizard!" shouted Karai angrily, as she attempted to kick Harry in the face but Harry calmly arched backwards, causing Karai to land crookedly on her feet, before she spun around and shot a chain out of the arm of her outfit, but Harry once again dodged out of the way, Karai rushed Harry, but Harry calmly avoided the shot. "No…I have to win…I must have my revenge…stay still Potter…fight me….no…I have to…"

Karai's frustration continued to bubble, as Harry bounced off the walls to propel himself to the other end of the room. She had prepared for a Potter who would fight head on, not a Potter who refused to fight back, who forced her to come to him, to attack him. Karai angrily rushed forward but Harry dodged the attack, before flicking his wrist and the metal in the legs of Karai's armor, became temporarily heavier, forcing Karai to her knees. Karai struggled to her feet, but Harry had her finished, summoning the sword from the wall. Harry caught it and held the blade an inch away from Karai's head, who flinched.

"I could kill you right now," said Harry in a chilling tone of voice.

"Do it!" challenged Karai. "Like you killed my father, finish me off Potter!"

"I could, but what would you learn?" asked Harry coolly as he dropped the sword to the ground casually before he looked at the Saki Statue. "And if you come near my family or my friends one more time…"

The jade statue of Oroku Saki shattered into dust and at that moment, several Foot Ninjas entered the study.

"Mistress Karai, we heard a disturbance," stated one of the Foot Ninjas and Karai looked up to tell them to attack Potter, but he had already evacuated the premises by the time she had looked up. She angrily shifted her eyes down to the pile of dust that was once the statue of her father. Potter would pay for making a fool out of her. This was not over, she would have her revenge and Potter would pay with his blood.

Back at the lair, Harry returned to the lair, with several boxes of Chinese Takeout, that he dropped right in front of his family.

"Chinese Food for Breakfast?" asked Mikey, before he took the attached chop sticks and began to dig in, with the others joining him. "Works well enough for me, I guess."

"Like I've said, this place looks like it would be remotely safe to live, everything should be okay and fix it up a little bit, it could be suitable for habitation," commented Harry with a smile, before he reached behind his back and presented an exquisite looking walking stick. "Master Splinter, this walking stick was said to be carved from an ancient and very powerful mystic tree, it's a gift from the Ancient One and from me."

"What a thoughtful gift," said Splinter with a smile, as he examined the walking stick closely. It's craftsmanship was amazing and if nothing else, it would save him the trouble of forging a brand new walking stick to replace the one that had been destroyed in the Foot attack. "And indeed, Harry I agree with your assessment, this place will make a suitable place to stay once it's fixed up slightly. After all, as a wise man once said, home is where you hang your hat."

Ginny sat in her room calmly but was brought out her thoughts with a knock on the door.

"Come in!" called Ginny and the door opened, causing her expression and mood brighten significantly when she saw who was standing on the other side. "Harry!"

Ginny rushed forward and wrapped her arms around Harry in a warm hug, not wanting to let go, fearing that Harry would have to go away again. She quickly kissed Harry before she stepped back, as Harry pulled out a large bouquet of flowers, before he handed them to Ginny.

"Beautiful flowers for a beautiful young lady," commented Harry with a smile which caused Ginny to look at Harry, for a few seconds, closely studying him.

"You'll back, all of you," said Ginny quietly, as she surveyed Harry. She was sincerely happy that Harry had recovered from his traumatic loss at the hands of Lord Voldemort, along with the deaths of Daphne and Theodore, but a part of Ginny was also apprehensive. This meant that Harry would also want to finish things with Voldemort and as selfish as it was, Ginny still wished that Harry did not have to needlessly risk his life. "I missed you so much."

"I missed you too Ginny," commented Harry as he surveyed her, something about her seemed off. "If you're upset about me abruptly tearing off with only a note, I'm sorry…"

Ginny gently placed her finger on Harry's lips to silence him, before staring intently into his vibrant emerald eyes.

"No Harry, I understand, I was lonely without you, but it had to be done and I'm sure that you're now in a much better place of what you did," said Ginny, caressing Harry's cheek reassuringly. "Still, Voldemort…'

"Ginny, I understand your concern, but I'm not making it known that I'm alive until all the Horcruxes have been collected," said Harry and on the subject of Horcruxes, Harry discarded a certain paranoid theory of his, absolutely confident that it was a byproduct of his dreams. "There might be a lot of work to be done, but defeating Voldemort is something that has done. I can't hide from it for ever, in a way, no matter how much I hate to believe in destiny, it still does seem to be mine to fight Voldemort and anything else that comes that way."

"I'm there for you Harry," said Ginny in a resigned voice, but she completely understood what Harry had to do, Voldemort needed to be stopped eventually and Harry was the only one who she felt had a chance to defeat him. The Draxxor thing also weighed in the back of her mind and she had no doubt that Harry had the powerful demon that possessed the body of Albus Dumbledore, but had focused towards Voldemort for the time being, as she saw Harry looked at her, to reassure her that everything was going to be okay, without saying words.

"One day Ginny, I will defeat Voldemort but there's one thing I need to know," said Harry as he dropped to one knee, before pulling out the most beautiful ring that Ginny had ever seen in her live. "Will you, my beloved, Ginerva Molly Weasley, marry me?"

Ginny was struck dumb for a few seconds but she managed to catch her breath in time, pleasure swelling up within her. She had thought Harry would wait to ask her until Voldemort was finished once and for all, but still she was not complaining.

"Of course I will Harry," replied Ginny breathlessly as she wrapped her arms around Harry's neck before kissing him passionately. Thanks to the bond, they were practically married anyway, but the fact that Harry wanted to make it official, perfectly illustrated why Ginny loved him. They slowly broke apart, before Ginny flashed a playful smirk towards Harry. "You know Harry, we've got almost four months of lost time to make up for right now and we're alone in this room."

"Lead the way my lady," said Harry which caused both of them to share a laugh at the slightly cheesy nature of Harry's statement, before they moved towards the bed, both making sure that the door was secured.


	17. Chapter 17: Outbreak

**Chapter Seventeen: Outbreak**

In the heart of Area Fifty One, in the laboratory provided to him by Agent Bishop, Doctor Baxter Stockman concluded putting the finishing touches on his latest project set on him by the shady government agent. Bishop stepped out of the shadows, as he watched Stockman work as quickly as possible, but also take care to not botch this assignment.

"It's finished," concluded Stockman in a pleased voice, as he stepped back, to show Bishop the finished work, a clone body that was an exact duplication of Agent Bishop, an empty shell just waiting for Bishop to transfer his memories into. Bishop nodded as the skin on his forehead began to swell up, forcing Bishop to push it back down. "And not a moment too soon I may add."

Bishop just regarded Stockman with a calm nod.

"Now, I've enhanced your strength, speed, and durability, so while this may not be your first clone body, it may very well be your best," explained Stockman.

"Yes, very good Doctor Stockman, I cannot allow my work to be stalled due to death," commented Bishop as he removed his jacket, before he laid himself down on the operating table beside the clone body. "If this body is as good as you say it is, we are one further step for my goal to create an army of super soldiers to protect the citizens of Earth and another step away from you having a new human body of your own."

"Very good," said Stockman who was pleased that soon enough, he would be able to live life inside a body made of flesh and bone, not being confined to a robotic shell. He made sure Bishop and his new clone body both were completely secured, the last thing Stockman needed was this experiment to be a failure, as he would be deprived of having a brand new body of his own. "Preparing for neural transference process and oh by the way, Agent Bishop, this will hurt."

Stockman pulled the switch, causing currents of electricity to flow through, repeating the process. As Bishop's consciousness was swept into the clone body, the skin of his original body began to melt, the bones reduced to dust as Bishop's memories began to leak into the clone body. As they were, Bishop recalled the exact time where he was inspired to begin the Earth Protection Force, to fight all those who threatened the security of Earth.

_It was the Battle of New Orleans, in 1815. A younger John Bishop was separated from the rest of his fellow soldiers when he saw a flash of grey light in the distance. Stepping forward a few paces, Bishop shielded his eyes and suddenly, much to his discomfort, he found himself sucked up off the ground, directly into a spaceship hovering several hundred feet above the ground. Bishop was dizzied and passed out before he reached the ship._

_Bishop's eyes flickered open and he saw grey, bug eyed aliens, standing over him, with a variety of complex tools that very unfamiliar to him. One of the aliens growled, as they worked on Bishop, who groaned in agony, as the aliens rendered him unconscious to continue their work on them. _

_Some time later, Bishop found himself on the battlefield, a bit shaken from his meeting from the aliens. Following the sound of explosions in the distance, Bishop stepped forward to rejoin the battle, a bit put out by what happened, but there would be plenty of time to register what he saw later on._

And indeed there was. Ever since that moment in time, Bishop had put his whole life to prepare for future attacks of the alien menace. Despite what the bureaucrats in DC would want people to think, aliens were a very real and constant threat to the security of the people of both the United States of America, along with the rest of the world. Bishop had taken steps, using alien technology he required to make sure he did not die, as all would be lost, and also strengthened his abilities to best fight off the menace that plagued the world. The war may have been never ending but Bishop's crusade also was the same.

In the alleyway of New York, Don was digging through the trash, as Mikey, Raph, Leo, Harry, Ginny, and Hailey watched, keeping an eye out for anyone. Ever since Harry's confrontation against Karai a few days ago, there was an ongoing eerie presence on the air, as several times, Harry, along with his friends and family, had just narrowly avoided brushes with the sinister forces of the Foot.

"Don, hurry it up, I have a bad feeling about this," remarked Mikey but Don just looked at with narrowed eyes.

"Look, I need to find a new transmitter device, but if you think you can dig through the garbage any faster than I can, be my guest Mikey, otherwise…" stated Don but Leo shushed them both, as he looked out.

"Everyone disappear," muttered Leo, and the group hid in the shadows, holding their breath, as from high above, a group of Foot Ninjas leapt from rooftop to rooftop, in search for their enemies. A few tense seconds felt like many minutes, as Hailey, Ginny, Harry, Leo, Don, Raph, and Mikey quickly walked from their hiding places, when they were certain that the Foot Ninjas had completely cleared the area.

"The third time they've been through tonight, in the last hour almost," remarked Hailey in an irritated voice.

"You know this stinks about as much as the garbage, I don't know why you didn't finish off Karai when you had the chance Harry," stated Raph.

"Now, Harry had his reasons, I'm sure they will all work out for the best," said Ginny and Harry nodded by the side.

"Karai was a victim of her own rage, directed towards us, for the role that was played in Saki's demise," commented Harry.

"Kind of like you were a victim of your own rage," said Hailey and Harry just nodded.

"Still, we're hiding in the shadows, when the Foot is hunting us, we should be the ones hunting them, bring the fight to them this time, don't wait for them to come to us, remember, last time, they nearly wiped us all out," remarked Raph in a stubborn voice.

"Raph, in time we can deal with the Foot, but not right now, we don't know exactly how many of them are or exactly what the rebuilt Foot Headquarters is like, their security measures and everything else, so going against them right now might not be the best course of action right now," argued Leo. "When it's time to deal with them, we will but right now, we'll let them think that we're on the run from there."

Raph just grumbled in response, it was obvious that the hot headed terrapin did not like being on the defensive. Reaching deep into the dumpster, Don pulled out a dusty looking transmitter.

"Found it, looks like I need to patch it up a bit, but it should work well given a little work," commented Don, holding up the transmitter for the others to properly see.

"Okay, let's go," prompted Leo and the group made their way to the sewers, to make their way back to the new lair, to continue the refurnishing process to make it fit for habitation.

Elsewhere a van pulled near a manhole, stopping several feet beside it. Exiting, two utility workers mad their way towards the manhole, one of them looking around rather nervous.

"Telling you, going into the sewer at night is a bit unnerving, you know what I mean, after all the stories that there are about what might be done there," commented one of the utility workers but his partner just looked at him with a shrug, as he began to pry open the manhole.

"Yeah, I've heard, never really seen anything weird, at least for a sewer," replied the second utility worker, in a dismissive tone of voice, as he moved to the truck, getting his tools out. "Don't worry too much, all those stories, I bet there just exaggerated."

"I know, but you heard about the giant crocodiles that lurk down there," said the first utility worker. "Not to mention rumors of giant, man eating turtles, all sorts of weird stuff down there, freaky man, I don't know how anyone could go down there."

"Just let me go down there, you can hand me tools and keep an eye out for anything strange," said the second utility worker with a shrug, as he climbed down the sewers, the first utility worker breathed in relief, as he stood by, awaiting more confirmation from his co-worker. "Okay, hand down my splicing kit, it looks like I'll be needing it."

The first utility worker walked towards the van, taking as much time as he needed, as he removed the splicing kit from the back of the van. He froze as he heard the screams of his co-worker from below.

Quickly, the utility worker dropped the splicing kit and ran towards the manhole, looking down with widened eyes, as his partner was gone. He blinked, swearing that he saw a shadow of something that resembled a giant cockroach, but when he looked more closely, the imposing, mysterious figure had vanished. The utility worker backed off, to report the disappearance of his partner, not wanting to go any further in the sewer, just in case whatever got to his co-worker got him.

In the sewers, the group walked towards the junkyard to search for a few more items that Don felt was necessary to get everything going. As they traveled down the tunnels, several shadows, with glowing red eyes looked out in the distance. The shadows, shaped like giant insects, watched as the group walked by, stalking them, marking them for prey.

"So all I'm saying is that maybe we should not be all that hasty with the sleeping arrangements in the new lair," commented Mikey but Raph just looked at him, with a calculating expression.

"I know what the problem is with you Mikey, you're just upset because you get the smallest room," said Raph.

"Yeah, but I mean seriously, how much room does Leo need to be boring, why don't we switch," said Mikey hopefully.

"Don't think of it as small Mikey, think of it as a chance to become more efficient as how you manage your living space," said Harry but this did not seem to pacify Mikey one bit, as the terrapin kicked a can down the sewer tunnel in frustration, as they moved closer, the exit to the manhole right across from the junkyard was just a few steps away.

"Yes I know, but I just miss my old room, it was the way I wanted it, years of comic books down the drain, reduced to cinders thanks to the Foot," said Mikey in a despondent voice, as he kicked the can into a tunnel off to the side, as they advanced further towards the junkyard.

Little did they know, that a large claw reached towards the can and latched onto it with its claws. In an instant, the can was violently crushed into nothingness.

Back in the laboratory, Bishop's new body was just finishing coming to its senses. Bishop flexed his fingers, looking over the body, he was impressed beyond belief, Stockman had done an excellent job.

"Nothing seems to be the matter Doctor Stockman, I'm impressed," commented Bishop as he rose to his feet to step forward.

"Good then, I'll just be getting to work on my new body," said Stockman, as he stepped towards the side but on the video screen, an incoming communication came through, the frantic face of one of Bishop's commandos.

"Doctor Stockman, another situation has occurred in New York," reported the commando and Stockman winced as Bishop slowly turned to him, with narrowed eyes, before he turned to the commando on the screen.

"What do you mean by a situation?" demanded Bishop, as he readjusted his glasses and the commando quickly began his report, not wanting to raise the ire of Bishop.

"Agent Bishop, a strange creature has been sighted, just outside of the sewers, we just managed to contain it, a picture is coming up on the video link right now," reported the commando and an image of what appeared to be a giant hybrid of several different kinds of insects, with glowing red eyes. "We've never seen anything like that, this is the third such creature that we had to deal with in the city."

"Stockman, do you have a theory?" inquired Bishop coldly and Stockman racked his mind, before going through a logical and quite grim explanation.

"When I created the faux aliens for the invasion you staged, they were destroyed, leaving the genetic accelerant on the city streets, I had a team of commandos dispose of it into the sewers, thinking that would be the end of the problem," remarked Stockman quickly. "If my theory is correct, it seems as if the material used to create the faux aliens has combined with waste in the sewage, creating some kind of mutagen. I've never seen anything like this in my life and…"

"You mean I released this….this…plague onto the city," commented Bishop horrified as the ramifications of what would happen to him if this got out. "My entire life's work, destroyed because of one simple error, no that's not going to happen, I've worked too long and too hard for this to stop me."

Bishop rounded upon Stockman, looking very intense as the good Doctor used his robotic shell to move backwards.

"Stockman, it was on your orders that my men disposed of the genetic material into the sewer, so it will be your job to fix this mess and it will be your job to stop this plague from spreading any further," ordered Bishop. "And believe me, something like this will spread and spread throughout the city at a rate that you could not even imagine. We need to stop it before it becomes worse. The reported cases will only increase and it is only a matter of time before these creatures are seen widespread."

"Of course Agent Bishop…right away," said Stockman, who knew there was no room for argument, as Bishop stopped him for leaving for the moment. "Anything else?"

"Yes Stockman, you have to clean this up, the fate of the entire Earth Protection Force rests on your ability to do so," remarked Bishop. "Not to mention the ability of you to ever enjoy a new body once again, so take some men and get to New York, time is running out, both for me and all of humanity. Eliminate all traces of the plague no matter what it takes."

Quickly and promptly, Stockman left, leaving Bishop alone in the lab with his own thoughts. Stockman had to succeed, too much as on the line and if certain people caught any hint that Bishop had anything to do with it, they would use the information against them to shut down his operations for good.

Back in the sewers, Harry, Ginny, Hailey, Raph, Mikey, Don, and Leo had nearly completed their journey to the tunnel leading to the junkyard but the can that Mikey had kicked out of the distance earlier, had flew back into the distance, completely crushed beyond recognition. In an instant, Don spun around and aimed a flashlight towards the ceiling, revealing several deformed mutant insects, with claws and fangs, with drool dripping down, hanging above from them. In an instant, the genetic rejects dropped down and stalked the group, before they began to engage the group in battle.

Hailey just narrowly avoided a quick attack, as Ginny helped Harry knock one of the mutant insects backwards. Another one of the insects rushed forward and clanged his claw against Leo's katana, pushing him back, but Leo pushed him back for the attack, slicing his katana, backing the insect off. The insect sprung up, jaws pointed down towards Leo's head, but Don quickly smacked it out of the way with his Bo Staff, as he sprung up, before helping Mikey fight off some more of the insects, as Raph stepped back, avoiding the claws of his adversary, before landing on his feet. The mutant would not be denied as he rushed forward towards Raph, but Raph stabbed the insect with the Sai, backing it off slightly.

"What are those things?" asked Ginny, as she managed to knock one of the things off of Harry, who had him pinned to the ground, allowing Harry to get back to his feet, and help Ginny fight off another pair of insects.

"Ticks," breathed Harry and the group looked at him weirdly, but having gotten a close look at them, Don nodded in agreement.

"Harry's right, they're ticks, giant mutant ticks, sort of, deformed a little bit," remarked Don, as he knocked one of the mutants backwards, causing him to smash against the wall.

"Which explains why they keep going for the top of our scalps," breathed Hailey, as she armed a crossbow, before she shot an arrow high above their heads, causing rubble to drop down and the ticks to back off, but only for a moment, as several more burst forward, moving back towards the attack, as the battle continued to rage on, as it seemed like there more ticks yet coming.

"We need to run, now, get out of here, until we know exactly what we're up against!" yelled Leo, and the others, even Raph who was a bit unnerved at the presence towards these giant ticks due to a slight phobia he had for insects, agreed, before they ran for the nearest exit. The ticks began to follow, but Harry quickly created a wall of solid ice right on the doorway, sealing it shut. From the other side, the ticks smashed against it, but they were unable to break through on the first impacts.

"That will only hold them for a couple minutes, we need to keep moving," stated Harry and they nodded, before they moved down the tunnels, eyes peeled for any more mutant insect surprises that might be awaiting them as they continued their journey.

Back in the lab in Arena Fifty One, Bishop had patched into a video link, in direct contact with Stockman, as he lead a group of commandos down the sewer tunnels, having arrived there just seconds ago by helicopter. The commandos were equipped with flame throwers and Stockman looked around.

"Agent Bishop, we're in the sewers and keeping an eye out for any odd, peculiar specimens," commented Stockman in an uneasy voice but Bishop just regarded him with a cold nod.

"Report back and keep on the move, everything must be eliminated, no trace should remain," stated Bishop, and the holographic image of Stockman's head nodded uneasily, as they heard signs of movement down the tunnels.

"Everyone, move, detain whatever's down there," stated one of the commandos and they moved down the tunnel towards the signs of the disturbance, leaving Stockman alone. Despite being in a robotic shell, the mad scientist still was a bit uneasy, especially with the sounds around them and he could have sworn he saw shadows moving in the distance down the way.

"Wait up, don't leave without me," said Stockman fearfully, as he made his way down the tunnel to join the commandos, as they continued their hunt down the tunnel.

Meanwhile, in another section of the sewers, the group of the Turtles, Hailey, Ginny, and Harry had all managed to ditch the giant deformed mutant ticks, breathing rather heavily.

"Okay, that was close, way too close for my liking," said Hailey as she looked around.

"No, kidding, it would have be giant bugs of all things," added Raph in a moody tone of voice. "At least we lost them."

At that second, Mikey attempted to step forward, but he found his arm caught. He attempted to wrench it free, but unfortunately, it was still stuck on a sticky white silky substance.

"We might have lost them, but I think I've caught something," said Mikey in a panicked voice, as he attempted to pull his arm free, but it remained immobile, as the others gasped, as it appeared to be a giant spider web. "I'm stuck, I can't move…"

Leo sighed before he rushed forward, in an attempt to slice his brother free but found his katana stuck in the web as well. He attempted to pull free, but was stuck as well. Harry and Ginny moved forward, before they used cutting spells to free both Leo's katana and Mikey's arm from the web. They staggered back.

"Thanks," said Mikey but his eyes widened in absolute horror when he saw what was coming at them from above the web. It was a giant spider, with metal claws, glowing red eyes, and very visible fangs. They stepped back, as the spider moved towards them, but Harry deflected it back into the wall with a banishing charm. The spider was relentless, as it moved forward to the attack. Needless to say, it made Aragog and his family in the Forbidden Forest look like cute little spiders. The spider moved in for the attack but Raph dodged around and kicked it backwards. Harry, Ginny, and Hailey hit simultaneous banishing charms, causing it to fly into the wall with a sickening crack. The spider burst open and splattered its insides all over the corridor.

"Okay, this looks familiar," remarked Don as he bent down, to look at the goop that the spider had splattered.

"Yeah, no kidding, it resembles that stuff that those aliens spilled, the ones that Bishop created," said Raph. "You don't think, that Bishop's been experimenting again, have you."

"It's something more," said Harry, as he looked down to examine the white goop. "Something tells me that Bishop's not the one behind this, not entirely at least."

"Harry's got a point, why would Bishop want to do something like this, and set these things loose in the sewer, it's just counterproductive this what he says his goals are," said Leo and the others nodded in agreement, before several more shadows appeared in the sewers.

"Oh no, we have more company," gasped Mikey in horror as they slowly backed off, ready for a fight and saw a quartet of giant mutant cockroaches appear in the tunnel, glowing red eyes and looking rather menacing.

"Look!" shouted Ginny, pointing towards one of the cockroaches, who appeared to have a human growing out of the top of its head. The cockroaches moved forward to the attack, with Ginny just moving out of the way of a vicious assault. Harry struggled to get over to help her, but found himself engaging one of the roaches in battle. The Turtles and Hailey also were having their own problems battling the roaches, as they were relentless, not letting up the attacks one bit at all. Leo swung his katana but it only served to anger the roaches, as it knocked Leo backwards into the wall.

"Everyone hang tight," said Harry, as he kicked the roach off of him, before a loud bang echoed throughout the corridor and a net tied around the roach. The roach gave an anguished groan, but was unable to break free of the magically reinforced net.

Ginny dodged out of the way, before she aimed her wand, but the roach knocked it out of her hand. Quickly, Hailey managed to blast the roach in the back, causing him to turn around and advance on her. This allowed Ginny to aim her wand. Another loud bang and the roach was wrapped up in a net. The roach dropped to the ground, falling down the instant that it was wrapped up.

"Guys, lure them to me or Harry, we can take care of them!" shouted Ginny, and the others nodded, as Mikey was knocked to the ground but Don sprung forward using his Bo Staff, propelling himself feet first into the side of the roach. The roach staggered, before it took a swipe at Don, but Leo moved forward and backed the roach off, allowing Harry to wrap it up in a magically reinforced net. The roach struggled but found itself unable to move as it dropped to the ground.

"Now, we need to deal with him and we should be home free," said Hailey, as she pointed out the odd looking roach with the human sticking out of the top of it. Raph quickly attempted to attack but the roach quickly avoided the attack. From the side, a net was shot at the roach but the roach caught it, before ripping it to shreds.

"Splicing kit!" grunted the giant roach, taking the entire group aback.

"It spoke, it's intelligent!" exclaimed Don in a surprised voice, which caused Raph to roll his eyes slightly at his brother.

"Oh c'mon, Mikey talks and we don't call him intelligent," said Raph.

"Be that as it may, it displayed some level of sentience, so maybe if we can talk to it, we might be able to reason with it," suggested Don, but needless to say, this suggestion did not go down too well with the rest of the group.

"Talk to it, TALK TO IT!" cried Mikey incredulously. "Don, it's a giant mutant cockroach with a human growing out of its skull. What are we supposed to talk to it about, current events?"

"Talking, doubt it's going to be up for talking honestly," commented Ginny darkly, as the roach moved on the attack, causing the group to scatter. Another attempt by Harry to contain it was unsuccessful, as the roach moved forward, knocking the Boy-Who-Lived backwards into the wall. Ginny rushed forward but she was also knocked backwards. Leo attempted to engage it with his katanas but the roach managed to fight it off, its sentience making it a tougher adversary to put down then the other three mutants of its kind were.

Mikey rushed forward, swinging his nunchucks, but the roach blasted several deadly looking razor sharp tentacles at him. Thankfully for him, Mikey managed to avoid the attack, but staggered and second attack was only just avoided when Don had pushed his brother out of the way. Unfortunately, one of the tentacles pierced Don right in the leg, causing him to drop to the ground. Quickly, a loud magical explosion backed the creature off slightly.

"Are you okay Don?" asked Leo as he bent down to check Don, who pulled himself up, blood dripping down to the ground.

"Fine, just a tiny scratch, that's all," grunted Don, as the cockroach made its way forward, walking towards the sewers. Raph stepped forward to go after it, but Don grabbed his arm to stop him from leaving. "Let him go Raph, there's nothing that really came be done by going at it."

"Besides, something else is coming right now," informed Harry. "I would suggest we get back to the lair to regroup, before we try and go after anything else."

"Just a second Harry, let me get some of the substance that the spider spilled, to analyze, because something's a bit off with all of this," commented Don and quickly, he removed a vial from his duffel bag, and quickly siphoned the substance inside, before the group moved their way back towards the lair, but not before a group of Earth Protection Force workers walked down to investigate the mess more thoroughly.

Back at the lair, Don examined the goop underneath a microscope, as the others looked on from behind him, awaiting to find out what Don had found.

"Very strange, odd indeed," muttered Don under his breath, as he looked over. "It appears that there are living cells within this substance and it looks like they're…evolving."

"Great, we had trouble fighting bugs, what's going to happen when something more dangerous gets infected with this stuff," grumbled Raph.

"And there's a chance that it will only get worse, it's a plague, an outbreak that will sweep the entire city, unless someone stops it," replied Don.

"We'll stop it," said Harry, who knew now that he would have to postpone his attempts to locate the other two Horcruxes and eventually go after Voldemort for the time being. He could not, under any good conscious, leave the city exposed to this plague and not do his part to stop it. It was his home after all.

Don rose to his feet and reached up into the corner, where a security camera had been rigged. With a quick click of the button, Don activated the camera.

"There, now I think we'll all sleep easier tonight, given that we'll be able to see if one of those things sneak inside the lair or not," said Don. "The door's reinforced, but still, I don't want to take any chances."

Harry yawned, as he turned to Hailey and Ginny.

"Best be getting home right now, take the long way, since the Foot is still guarding the other direction," said Harry and the others agreed. "Good night all, I suspect I'll be saying you all before too long."

The others wished the trio good night, as they made their way to the lair, back to the Potter Residence, ready to also defend themselves just in case anything else came out to attack them.

"Contain and destroy them all," said the leader of the commandos, as the ticks were backed off, before they were incinerated by the flames. They gave inhumane groans as both the ticks and any material they spilled were eliminated.

"Status report Stockman," demanded Bishop.

"A group of giant ticks and another group of giant roaches have been eliminated right now, we're going one more sweep of this sector, to make sure that we did not pass anything over," reported Stockman.

"Doctor Stockman, sir, you need to see this, we've never seen anything like this," stated one of the commandos and Stockman looked over, seeing the giant roach that appeared to have a human sticking out of the top of it.

"Agent Bishop, you're seeing this, right?" asked Stockman.

"Yes, I am, do not destroy this one, but rather take steps to contain it, return it to the lab, it may be worthy of study," commented Bishop coolly. "Especially considering if I'm interpreting the research you sent back to me correctly, the worst of the outbreak is yet to come."

"Contain it, but do not destroy it, Agent Bishop requires a whole specimen, as there is much work to be done," ordered Stockman and the commandos moved it, weapons drawn, the roach attempting to fight out, but eventually succumbing to overwhelming odds.


	18. Chapter 18: Insane In the Membrane

**Chapter Eighteen: Insane in the Membrane.**

Bellatrix Lestrange lead a very petrified looking fourth year girl by the arm, to the office of her Master, Lord Voldemort. The girl whimpered, but Bellatrix held no sympathy for trouble makers cut from her cloth. Bellatrix saw two surly looking Aurors guarding the outside of her Master's office, not that he needed protection. In recognition, the two Aurors stepped to the side, allowing Bellatrix entrance. Bellatrix continued to move forward, without acknowledging the presence of the Aurors. The girl attempted to bolt, but Bellatrix roughly wrenched her forward by the arm.

"Please, don't…" whimpered the girl.

"You should have thought about the consequences before you dared to disgrace the halls of Hogwarts, with your actions," commented Bellatrix in a wicked voice. "The Dark Lord knows exactly what to do with trouble makers such as you. Now move it!"

Bellatrix put her wand at the throat of the girl, whose eyes widened in absolute fear, as the door swung open, granting Bellatrix entrance due to her dark mark. Moving forward, the girl looked around, to see the imposing figure of Lord Voldemort sitting calmly behind the desk. The entire office was devoid of most light and an creepy chill could be felt throughout the air.

"Kneel before the Dark Lord!" yelled Bellatrix in a wicked voice, as she forced the girl to her knees before the Dark Lord, who sat behind the desk, unsmiling, as he looked at Bellatrix through his slit like red eyes, before addressing her.

"Bellatrix, I had thought I told you to oversee the training of the Cruciatus Curse," commented Voldemort softly.

"Please forgive me, my Lord, but while the other students are at least making an attempt to learn, this one refuses to even attempt, because of moral obligations," said Bellatrix in an absolutely disgusted tone of voice, as she looked at the girl.

"Explain yourself," demanded Voldemort, as he stared down the girl, who was rather terrified at the moment, but found her tongue to explain.

"Well, it's wrong…to torture Muggles like that, I mean, they can't really fight back," said the girl quickly. "That curse…I heard the screams…it's hurting them…"

"Foolish girl, Muggles are nothing but animals, mindless beasts, they don't deserve to breath the same air we do," said Bellatrix wickedly "So what if they are hurt? They need to be taught a lesson, to be put in their place, because of their inferiority. They pollute all of existence…"

"Perhaps this young lady has a point," commented Voldemort and Bellatrix looked at the Dark Lord, like he had lost his mind, but Voldemort continued. "Perhaps torturing Muggles is not for the best, after all, they are rather notorious for breaking rather quickly under the curse. Perhaps a different test subject would be in order, to really who has the potential to use this tool."

The girl gasped in fear as Voldemort extended his skeletal white hand, before stroking her cheek in a leering manner.

"Such a pretty child, such a waste of magical power, but I do thank you for volunteering," said Voldemort coldly. "Bellatrix, take this girl back, but she will no longer have to learn the curse. Rather, the students who have shown impressive aptitude will now take the next step and utilize the curse on her. Perhaps it will also discourage future attempts at resisting us."

"As you wish, my Lord," said Bellatrix, as she dragged the girl out of his sight.

"No, please, don't, no, no, don't, this isn't right, someone will stop you, please don't hurt me!" shouted the girl, but Bellatrix paid her no mind, as she was dragged off, as Voldemort watched her go with an indifference expression etched upon his face. The fools who attempted to rebel against his regime would pay dearly, but hope that his power would be broken was lessening by the day for all that opposed him. Still, there were still fools who attempted to stand up to Voldemort and they paid dearly. With both Potter and Dumbledore out of the way, Voldemort was confident that no one could stand up to him, he was untouchable.

In the sewers in New York, Raph was knocked backwards into the wall by a grotesque frog monster, effected by the outbreak. The monster moved forward but Raph dodged the attack, as Leo and Mikey was battling another pair of frog monsters, with Harry, Hailey, and Ginny avoiding a vicious assault from the frog monster, as Don dodged in for the attack, leg bandaged from the recent encounter with the roach mutants, as the grotesque genetic reject swiped its claws towards him, but Don barely blocked the attack, before he was pushed back.

"Man, it bites not being able to use our weapons to deal with these things," commented Raph with a grunt, as he was knocked to the ground and the frog leapt at him, but Raph managed to flip him over to the ground, before he removed a tranquilizer gun from behind his back and fired a dart right at the horrid mutant. The frog gave a gasp as it began paralyzed.

"Yeah, but remember, if this stuff splatters, more mutants and more of a mess for us to clean up," said Harry, as he dodged out of the way, putting his adversary in position to be shot in the back with a tranquilizer dart from Hailey. The frog monster dropped to the ground, completely paralyzed.

"Yeah, I know," said Raph grudgingly, as he kicked a piece of rubble in the way of a mutant that was engaging Mikey. The mutant turned its attention to Raph, which allowed Mikey to shoot it right in the back with the tranquilizer dart. The frog mutant staggered around, smashing something, refusing to go down.

"This one's a bit stronger, it won't go down," said Mikey.

"This should put it to sleep," said Leo, as he impacted two more darts into the back of the frog, as it dropped to the ground, as on the other end of the tunnel, Harry lured another frog mutant in, allowing both Ginny and Hailey to shoot it simultaneously, putting the beast down. It dropped to the ground, put into slumber.

"Did we get them all?" asked Hailey, as she looked around, and the others nodded in confirmation.

"For now," said Leo cryptically, as he looked from side to side, as the tunnels had been completely purged of any of their mutant guests. "Still, Don's theory was correct, the mutagen is evolving at an insane rate, who knows what it will in effect next."

"We'll fight it, but the next step would be to find an antidote for the mutagen," said Harry. "Until them, we can only put these things down as fast as we can find them, so someone doesn't break them open and infect anything else."

"Still, the paralysis potion that Lily brewed worked well enough, even if we had to give a couple of those things two or three doses to put them down," inputted Ginny.

"Yeah, it works well now, but if this mutagen evolves to another level, we might require either many more doses or something a bit stronger," commented Don. "I'm working around the clock to find an antidote, but it's going rather slow, as there are so many variables to test, to find a universal cure that will affect a variety of species."

"Keep working Don, Hermione, Mum, and I are working to attempt to see if something magical that can serve as a cure for this plague, but once again, all the variables are difficult to nail day," said Harry. "We'll find a cure, but right now, contain everything so it doesn't splatter and spread."

Back in the lab that Agent Bishop created for him in Arena Fifty One, Stockman was hard at work on a project. At that instant, the doors slid open and Agent Bishop stepped inside, surveying Stockman over the top of his sunglasses.

"Stockman, the third case of another swarm of mutants has been reported in New York, in just a matter of less than twenty minutes and if our calculations are correct, soon it will spread outside the city," remarked Bishop. "Do you have a cure Stockman?"

"In time Agent Bishop, in time, first I need to finish your end of the bargain from when I helped you take down the Shredder's star ship, remember, my new body," commented Stockman as his robotic shell stepped back, to reveal an exact duplicate of Stockman's original human body.

"Stockman, this can wait, it is essential that the outbreak is contained, all of humanity hangs in the balance and in a matter of weeks, there is potential that the virus could be evolved enough to effect humans," responded Bishop, who was irritated with how Stockman was putting his own needs over his job, but Stockman remained undeterred as he continued work on his body.

"Agent Bishop relax, I read the reports, there's only just a slight potential that the outbreak will evolve that far, besides my new body will allow me more mobility than this hunk of tin that I'm currently in," said Stockman, as he backed off. "I combined the alien accelerants with the genetic material used to make your new body to ensure higher durability."

"Are you certain this is wise, Doctor Stockman?" inquired Bishop calmly. "This same alien accelerant that caused the outbreak in the first place?"

"I have run numerous tests, everything is stabilized, I am confident that this transfer will work," said Stockman. "Now do you need anything before I put myself asleep and wake up in my new body?"

"Just be careful not to damage that brain of yours Stockman, it is the only thing you have that is of any value to me," replied Bishop coolly, before he walked off, leaving Stockman to scoff.

"Perhaps the fool should get a brain of his own to use," muttered Stockman before he laid himself down the table, fastening the cables lead to his brand new body, before he turned to the activating module. In a matter of moments, he would have a brand new body to replace the one where the Shredder and Hun had ruthlessly whittled away piece by piece. "Activate the neural transference process."

Electrical currents flowed between the robotic shell where Stockman's mind currently was, slowly transferring his brain, along with all of his memories. As the process slowly put Stockman to sleep, his subconscious began to replay the memories on his life, including his childhood.

_Eight year old Baxter Stockman carried a plastic container containing a lone roach across the kitchen in his home. He placed the container on the table and took out a glass beaker, containing a sickly yellow acid. The roach attempted to scurry, but young Baxter stopped it, before he held up the beaker of acid, to conduct an experiment. A happy look of curiosity appeared on the young boy's face, but he was brought out of his thoughts by the door opening. Baxter looked up to see the form of his mother walking to the door. Happily the young boy rushed over towards his mother. _

"_Mamma, you're finally home!" exclaimed Baxter in a happy voice as he hugged his mother. _

"_Hello Baxter, I managed to find that chemistry set that you've been asking for," stated Mrs. Stockman, as he handed her very pleased son the kit. _

"_Thanks Mamma, will you play with me with it?" asked Baxter in a hopeful voice but his mother looked at him._

"_Sorry, Baxter, but I have to work a double shift today, to help pay the bills," said Mrs. Stockman in an apologetic voice. "I just had time to stop by during my break to bring you this but I promise, once I have time, I will spend it with you."_

_Baxter nodded, as he watched his mother walk out the door, as he opened the chemistry set, pleased with the fact that his mother remembered that he wanted it so much. Now that he had this, he had no need to conduct his crude experiment on the roach, so he picked up the plastic container before he tipped it forward. It allowed the roach its freedom, as it jumped out the window, back outside to leave Baxter all alone._

Back in Bishop's lab, Stockman's fingers began to twitch, as his body came to its senses and he sat up in the lab, looking around pleased that the experiment had been a complete success.

"I, Doctor Baxter Stockman, have completely returned!" announced Stockman in a pleased voice, as he rose to his feet, looking around, smelling the air, just enjoying being completely alive once again, instead of a brain inside a cold, robotic shell. Taking his first tentative steps forward, as he put on a lab coat, Stockman felt liberated, almost reborn.

Outside some time later, Stockman stood outside, enjoying the feel of the warm breeze against his body, it had been too long, before Bishop walked up to him, looking at Stockman with a calm expression on his face.

"The experiment was a success Stockman," commented Bishop as he looked him up and down.

"Absolutely, it worked and I have a second chance at life, I'm going to make the most of it, I'm truly reborn," said Stockman but Bishop just looked at him.

"Careful Stockman, you've just been in that new body for a matter of minutes, I would not celebrate too soon, there's always a chance for side effects," warned Bishop. "Now, I have new data awaiting you in the lab from the latest round of outbreak attacks. I would suggest you'd get a jump on looking at it."

"Right away, Agent Bishop," replied Stockman, but as he stepped forward, he felt slightly off balance and he felt his right arm ripple from underneath the sleeve of his lab coat. Stockman looked on, in shock, as he saw his arm settle back down, unmoving.

"Is there a problem, Doctor Stockman?" prompted Bishop but Stockman quickly shook his head in response.

"No, I don't think so, it must be the skin assimilating to itself, there will still be side effects, but perhaps it will be best to conduct some studies, to look for any potential problems," said Stockman quietly, as he moved off, leaving Bishop in the shadows, a calculating expression on his face as he watched Stockman leave.

Stockman feverishly poured over the notes that had been generated when he put his body underneath a full bio-genetic scan. Frowning, Stockman looked over them, checking and double checking all variables.

"According to this nothing is wrong, except for a slight fluctuation in the accelerant, but I doubt that would be a problem, it will settle itself, yes, everything will be fine, my new body will be back to normal," muttered Stockman, as he looked around at the lab, as sweat dripped from his face onto the table in front of him and he blinked, he saw the form of his mother standing in the doorway. "Mamma?"

"You've been working yourself too hard again, Baxter," commented Mrs. Stockman in a good natured voice, before she looked over her son. "Oh and I'd really put something on that finger, baby, it's starting to look really nasty."

Stockman looked at his hand and gasped in absolutely fear. Before his very eyes, he saw the skin on his right pinky finger rotting, as it began to turn into dust. What was his dream body, all but a few moments ago, was now turning into a nightmare, as he watched it decompose before his very eyes.

In a flash, Stockman's eyes flashed open. The scientist breathed a rather prominent sigh of relief.

"Just a nightmare," muttered Stockman as he absentmindedly raised his right hand and gasped, much like the dream, his right pinky finger was rotting, the sickening smell of flesh filling his nostrils, but the smell becoming less prominent the more it rotted, something that Stockman was certain should not be happening.

Angrily, Stockman moved forward and smashed over the shelves in the lab, knocking them over. With an angered expression, he knocked over another shelf, a large piece of glass impacting his shoulder. Yet, despite this, Stockman felt absolutely nothing, not the glass embedded in his arm, not the ground below his feet, the nerve endings have been completely numbed.

"No, no, this can't be!" yelled Stockman, as he continued to smash up the lab in a fit of rage and he found that his right arm was being dislocated, almost falling out. His eyes widened, there was no way he would allow his body to come apart, not after he worked so hard, the countless hours that he worked to make sure that he returned to a full body. Stockman picked up a large metal hammer and began slamming it into his shoulder, attempting to jam it back into the socket, loud cracks echoing throughout the lab, before he dropped to his knees and reared his head back, yelling in absolute agony. "No, not this way, I refuse…I can still salvage this, just need a new body, that's it, another new body, a powerful body…"

Stockman looked up, almost seeing the taunting face of one Harry Potter on the ceiling. A twisted grin appeared on Stockman's face, as he recalled with bitterness, the role that the extremely powerful wizard had played in foiling multiple plans of his, causing him to lose body part after body part of his original body.

"Yes, you do seem durable Potter, yes, the perfect vehicle, one more mind swap, sweet irony after all you cost me, that I would be the one to destroy you, the fated Harry Potter," babbled Stockman under his breath as the door opened, with two commandos entered the room.

"Doctor Stockman, are you okay, we heard a disturbance," said one of the commandos, but Stockman looked up, with a wide eyed crazed look etched in his eyes.

"Oh, I will fine, but you won't be," remarked Stockman in a crazed voice as he sprung forward, knocking one of the commandos in the wall. Despite all that had deteriorated, at the very least, Stockman was still pleased to have the super human strength. The other commando attempted to attack Stockman but Stockman grabbed him around the head with his hand, before slamming the back of the commandos head against the wall. In an instant, Stockman picked up the laser blaster that the commando dropped, before he rushed forward towards the exit.

He heard the alarm going off, the only senses that had not completely left him were those of hearing and sight. Quickly, he made his way towards the cargo bay, as a group of commandos pointed their laser blasters at him. Reaching into a crate, Stockman picked up an explosive charge before he flung it at the commandos. It detonated, causing the group to scramble, as Stockman entered a helicopter. He started it as, as the roof opened up and the helicopter rose into the sky, before it flew forward at high speeds. Ideally, it would transport him from Area Fifty One to New York City in around a half hour time and then Baxter Stockman would have a more lasting body.

Back in the sewers, the group crowded around, as Don was in the process of showing them something.

"After all the vehicles were destroyed at the hands of the Foot and not to mention the outbreak, I spent what little free time I had putting this together, behold the new and improved Battle Shell!" announced Don as he pulled the tarp off to reveal a modified moving van.

"It's inside the moving van?" prompted Mikey in a confused voice.

"It is the moving van," replied Don, as he moved over. "I put in some improvements on the previous model, that will be useful in tracking down our new mutant pest problem, it is much easier than just mindlessly hunting around on foot."

"Excellent work Don, you really outdid yourself this time," commented Harry, as he looked over the new and improved Battle Shell as Ginny consulted her watch.

"I really need to get going, we're going to go over some advanced Defense Against the Dark Arts material tomorrow, before we head up to take the test to get our equivalency to the N.E.W.Ts and I doubt I'll be able to concentrate without a lack of sleep," said Ginny and Harry nodded, as Hailey also moved forward. "Coming Harry?"

"No, you two go right ahead, I think we're going to do one more quick patrol of the city, before calling it a night," remarked Harry before he kissed Ginny good bye and gave his sister a hug. "Be careful you two, the Foot might still be lurking out there, don't get into trouble."

"Don't worry Harry, we'll take our time, the second something goes wrong we'll be sure to call you if we need help," replied Hailey and Ginny nodded, before the two girls walked off, as Harry turned to join his brothers before one more quick patrol, but keeping his fingertips on the two way mirror at all times. With both the Foot and the mutants outside in the city, Harry was worried, no much how he knew Hailey and Ginny could both take care of themselves.

On the surface many moments later, Hailey and Ginny walked, they stuck safely to the shadows and watched. They paused at a noise, but let out a sign of relief when it was only the wind.

"Almost there, the city's too quite for my liking," muttered Hailey. "Maybe we should have waited for Harry."

"No, Harry has enough to worry about, besides he's trained us so he doesn't have to constantly run off after us," said Ginny. "He'll be there for us when we need him, but at the same time, he's trusting enough to give us breathing room. Most in his position wouldn't do that."

At that sound, foot steps quickly approached, causing time to freeze. It was a loud thumping noise, as the twisted form of Baxter Stockman appeared in the shadows, looking at both Hailey and Ginny with surprise, but then glee.

"Quite fortuitous that I would find you here, Miss Weasley, now you will be coming with me right now!" yelled Stockman in a crazed voice, but Ginny quickly withdrew her wand and sent a silent stunning spell at Stockman, but it bounced off the mad scientist.

"STUPEFY!" yelled Ginny loudly, but once again, the stunning spell had no effect, as Stockman continued to move forward, but both Hailey and Ginny raised their wands at the same time, sending two simultaneous stunning spells at Stockman, but he was only staggered back a step, before he knocked Hailey right in the mouth, before he grabbed Ginny roughly by the arm.

"Do you not think I would taken steps to ensure that my new body would be invulnerable to magic!" yelled Stockman as he was almost foaming at the mouth. "Now, stop struggling, and come with me, I require your assistance for an experiment that I'm going to conduct on young Mr. Potter."

Quickly, Hailey knocked Stockman from behind with both of her feet, causing him to stagger back. Ginny quickly shot cords from her wand right at Stockman. They cocooned themselves around the mad scientist, as he struggled. Ginny reached for her mirror to call Harry, but Stockman ripped himself free and knocked her to the ground, causing the mirror to fly from her hand. With a vicious punch, he also dropped Hailey, before Stockman lightly clubbed Ginny across the back of the neck, causing her to pass out.

"Now, I have you and soon, I'm going to take Potter back to where it all started!" yelled Stockman as he dragged the unconscious form of Ginny to the helicopter as Hailey became to come to her senses. She aimed her wand and attempted to stall the helicopter, but her spell just flew through mid air. Stockman aimed a missile cannon at her, forcing Hailey to take cover as the missiles impacted the street, before the helicopter zoomed off. Needless to say, Hailey wasted no time in pulling out her mirror.

"HARRY!" yelled Hailey frantically as she looked at the mirror, frantic and sure enough seconds later Harry's face appeared on the other end of the mirror.

"Hailey, I was just coming back, what's the matter?" asked Harry as he caught sight of his sister's slightly bruised face, his concern growing at that.

"Stockman, he came out, attacked both me and Ginny, took Ginny," said Hailey who was absolutely shaking from seeing the state, both mentally and physically that Stockman was in and the fact that her best friend was being taken with that thing and Harry turned as pale as a ghost.

"Where did he go?" demanded Harry.

"I don't know Harry, he was raving, delusional even, he had a new human body, but it looks like it's breaking down," reported Hailey and Harry nodded, the fact that losing a second body would push someone over the edge. "Oh, and he said he was going to take it back to where it all started."

"Stocktronics," muttered Harry under his breath, referring to the lab that he and his brothers first met Stockman in when Harry was ten, after he had unleashed his legions of mouser robots on the city. "Hailey, get home right now, I'll go there."

"Be careful Harry," said Hailey, as the mirror link between the two Potter siblings went dead.

At Stocktronics, Ginny found herself coming to and found herself shackled to a wooden chair. Frantically, she searched for her wand, but did not find it on her.

"Looking for this," commented Stockman, as he twirled Ginny's wand between two rotting fingers. "You know, it's not like it would do you much good, as those shackles are resistant to magic, a little gift from Lord Voldemort to the Shredder, that I managed to swipe before I handed him my resignation to the Foot to work for Agent Bishop."

"Whatever you're planning, Harry will stop you," spat Ginny in a defiant voice.

"Not this time," said Stockman savagely as he held up a rotating saw, with a manic glare in his eyes. "This body was good in theory, but it has limitations, but the body of Harry Potter, it's strong. While magic flies in the face of everything I know as a scientist, I do have the practice to make myself familiar with all of my enemies and I know that your beloved Mr. Potter was the only person to survive the most powerful magic there is, the Killing Curse. That kind of power and durability is rather attractive to me."

Stockman gave Ginny a twisted smile, with discolored drool dripping from his mouth.

"I will slice open the skull of Harry Potter and rip his brain out, before putting mine in," concluded Stockman in a crazed tone of voice. "Thankfully at least Potter is of moderate intelligence, so at least it won't be that tight of a fit."

"You're mad!" yelled Ginny in an absolute mortified voice.

"Perhaps, but I'll be power mad in a matter of moments," commented Stockman before his eyes slid out of focus, with a blank, vapid look in them as his mind flashed back in time once again.

_It was a few years after young Baxter Stockman had received his first chemistry set, he was sitting at the bedside of his mother, who looked very weak and extremely ill. _

"_Oh honey, Mamma's not feeling her best, I'm afraid I don't have much time left," said Mrs. Stockman weakly and Baxter's eyes widened in horror. _

"_No!" shouted Baxter. _

"_Now, be a good boy and remember Baxter, you can do anything that you set your mind to, you remember that," commented Mrs. Stockman as she patted her son on the hand, before she closed her eyes, for what turned out to be the last time in her life. _

"No, don't leave me Mamma, please don't leave me," muttered Stockman but Ginny reached her foot over, spotting a sharp jagged metal object lying in front of her. If she could somehow pull it over with her foot, she could break the chains and find a way to contact Harry, so he did not needlessly put himself in danger.

Ginny nearly gripped it, but her foot slipped, causing the metal to clang across the ground, causing Stockman's eyes to snap back open and turn to Ginny, before he walked over, and grabbed the jagged piece of metal, before pulling it out of her reach.

"Nice try, but do you really think it would be that easy?" demanded Stockman but at that moment, the front entrance doors swung open, causing Stockman to quickly crouch behind an operating table, as Harry entered the main lab.

"Ginny," said Harry in relief as he moved over, as Stockman pulled out a stun laser.

"HARRY WATCH OUT, IT'S A TRAP!" shouted Ginny and sure enough, Stockman began firing a laser blaster at Harry, causing him to duck and dodge heavy stream of laser fire that Stockman launched at him, before he removed a shuriken from his sleeve and aimed it right at the laser blaster, causing it to be knocked from Stockman's hand.

Quickly, Harry moved over but Stockman caught his hand, before he wrenched it backwards. A loud pop and Harry was staggered, his elbow damaged by the enhanced body of Stockman. Stockman rushed over but Harry dodged the attack, before he swung up onto the pipes from above. In an instant, Harry aimed his foot right into the jaw of Stockman. A loud crack echoed throughout the lab as Stockman dropped to his knees, his jaw hanging from a few strands of rotted skin, with blood dripping down, as Harry moved over to attend to Ginny, in an attempt to break her free, but Stockman calmly snapped his jaw back into place, before he grabbed Harry by the back of the throat and threw him halfway across the lab. The force caused Harry to smash into a table as Stockman raised a large syringe over his head, before advancing on Harry.

"Time for your sedative, Mr. Potter!" shouted Stockman in a crazed voice as he aimed the needle right at Harry's throat, but Harry managed to block it with his hands, his strength enhanced by a sudden burst of accidental magic, before he pushed Stockman back. Quickly, Harry gracefully launched himself over Stockman, ending up behind him, before he loaded his tranquilizer gun with a dart, containing a double dose of paralysis potion. Quickly, Harry fired it in the back of Stockman. For a second, Harry thought he was home free but Stockman's head turned around one hundred and eight degrees, giving him the impression that his head was on backwards.

"There was enough in that dart to paralyze a human for six months," muttered Harry as Stockman charged Harry, but Harry just managed to slide out of the way.

"Yes, but thanks to this faulty body, I can't feel anything, but yet I'm still standing, so what's a little less feeling!" yelled Stockman as he smashed Harry right in the face, knocking him down, causing several vials to drop off of a nearby shelf. "It's because of you Potter that I'm like this and now, I'm going to destroy you…"

Stockman lifted a table over his head, but Harry spotted a vial of acid lying by his side. Quickly removing the cork, as Stockman advanced, Harry threw the acid right at Stockman, causing it to splash right into his eyes. Stockman staggered backwards, causing the heavy table to drop onto him, pinning down, as Harry quickly rushed over, before he managed to pull Ginny free. He extended his hand, helping Ginny to her feet.

"You okay?" asked Harry in a concerned voice, as Ginny collected her wand.

"I am now," said Ginny, as she looked around but Stockman had pulled the table off of him, throwing it, causing it to smash into the shelf, causing several dangerous chemicals to splash onto the floor, causing the area around him to bubble, but Stockman seemed not to notice, as he pointed another laser blaster right at Harry and Ginny.

"This is the end Potter!" yelled Stockman, as there was no skin on his face around his eyes, as yellow pus dripped to the ground, as he aimed the laser at the two, but suddenly Stockman paused, his eyes glazed over. "No, no, it was never meant to get this far, I'm sorry I disappointed you, I didn't mean to…I thought this was what you wanted…it's my mistake…but…I had to do it…please forgive me Mamma, forgive me…"

Stockman's eyes snapped back open, as he gave his head a shake just as he watched the shuriken of Harry connect with his blaster, causing it to blow to bits and causing the chemicals on the floor to be set ablaze! Harry grabbed Ginny by the arm, and put a shield charm around them, before they launched themselves through an open window, just as Stocktronics blew sky high! Loud explosions echoed throughout the landscape as deadly toxic chemical clouds blew from the window, but both Harry and Ginny were protected from Harry's extremely powerful shield charm, as they walked off to blaring sirens.

"The end of Stockman?" asked Ginny quietly but Harry just shrugged.

"I thought so before and he's come back," replied Harry, as he looked off into the distance. "Without anyway to verify given the state that Stocktronics is in, there is really no way to tell."

"Still, no one could have survived that explosion," remarked Ginny logically.

"Perhaps, but it's really a shame, at one time Stockman was considered one of the greatest scientific minds in the world, but given his recent years, it kind of pollutes that," replied Harry. "For his sake, perhaps his achievements will be remembered, instead of his atrocities."

Ginny nodded, it was a shame when someone with such promise threw away everything they achieved because of a few misguided decisions, as she and Harry returned to the Potter residence, ready for bed. It had been a long day.


	19. Chapter 19: Savanti's Revenge Part I

**Chapter Nineteen: Savanti's Revenge Part One:**

It was in the early evening, as a group of five figures made their way through a natural history museum. Four members of this group were disguised, wearing long trench coats, hats, scarves, and sun glasses, that would completely obscure their identities, providing that no one looked all that close to them at all. The fifth individual the group was ready to use a Confundus charm on anyone who may come too close to seeing where they are. Thankfully, the passed the hallway, with little incident, as they reached the main attraction, an exhibit regarding dinosaurs. One of the figure gave a slight sneeze, which earned them some looks from onlookers.

"Alright Don?" asked Leo.

"Fine, just feeling a little bit under the weather, however not enough to not be excited about this," commented Don as he looked around at several reconstructed skeletons of dinosaur fossils. "This is said to be one of the most comprehensive exhibits regarding the age of the dinosaurs in the world and it's coming here. Isn't it so exciting?"

"Yeah, thrilling Don," commented Raph dryly as he looked around. "Look, Bishop's mutants are out there right now, we should be cracking their heads right now, and not visit some stuffy old dinosaur exhibit."

"Ah Raph, it is interesting when you think about it, I mean we as turtles have ancestors dating all the way back to the Cretaceous period," remarked Don as he looked around to a giant turtle like creature hanging from the ceiling. "See, us and humanity can learn about how we evolved by studying this period of time, as these fossils can teach us much."

"Also, if you think about it, the end of the dinosaurs can teach us a lot, as when they were wiped out of existence, the cataclysmic events created an environment that allowed magic to be created and properly utilized, that allowed human life to be sustained or so historians believe," lectured Harry and the others looked at him. "Learned that in one of the few History of Magic classes I managed to stay awake from, nothing's been proven one way or the other, but it's highly probable."

"Museum's closing up in about twenty minutes" remarked Leo as he looked over his shoulder, as people began to file out, as the museum emptied for the day. "So take a good look at everything, the last thing we need is to create a scene that would get us discovered."

"No problem, we're true masters of stealth and invisibility," commented Mikey in a confident voice, before a figure popped from the bushes, causing Mikey to give a slight shriek, before he leapt back, but breathed in relief when he saw it was only a robotic dinosaur.

"Did I mention the animatronics exhibit?" asked Don with a smirk as he looked over Mikey who took a deep breath in relief. "State of the art stuff, among the best in the world, a great reenactment if I may say so myself."

"No kidding, I thought it was a real threat," commented Mikey as he raised his eyebrows. "Still, once you get past the fact that we're in a room with a bunch of dusty old bones, it does seem cool, well sort of, if you strength it enough."

The group spent a few more minutes looking around, before they saw the guard move forward, no doubt informing the people inside that the museum was to close in a short amount of time. Stepping forward towards the door, they stopped in their tracks, when they heard a rattling sound behind them.

"Another robot?" asked Raph, as he reached inside his coat for his Sais but Don shook his head, as the skeleton of a tyrannosaurus rex was the offender, as the bones continued to rattle, before it illuminated a bright shade of red, before it walked off of its pedestal, to advance forward on the Turtles and Harry, who took a couple of steps back.

"If I didn't know any better, I would think someone enchanted that thing," breathed Harry as his eyes widened, as the dinosaur's neck began to turn slightly, to look at the group, before it stooped down.

"Well, whatever happened, I think it's safe to assume that this isn't part of the exhibit," remarked Leo and Don nodded grimly, as the fossils began to bust apart, before they swirled in mid air, a loud insidious laughter filling the air around them, as they arranged themselves into a shape, a shape that was very familiar to the group, the face of a rival they thought long banished, one Savanti Romero. The face stared down our heroes with a sadistic glint, as it looked down at that.

"Greetings from the Cretaceous, you miserable reptiles," declared Savanti, as his cold, diabolic laughter filled the entire museum, causing everyone to look around from side to side, in absolute horror once they saw the floating head made of fossils in the museum. Those who were still in the museum quickly bolted as quickly as their feet could take them to the door, not wanting to be in the presence of this thing, whatever it was. A guard walked into the scene to investigate the source of the disturbance but his eyes widened when he saw the floating head of bones in the museum.

"I don't get paid enough for this!" yelled the guard as he threw his hands up in the air in defeat, as Savanti continued his loud, diabolic laughter.

"Savanti Romero, could have sworn he was banished all the way to the past," said Harry.

"Well, obviously I didn't stick as well as we would have hoped, Harry" inputted Raph as Savanti continued his laughter, before the face of bones turned its attention to the group.

"You should understand that there is nowhere, no time that you can hide that you will be safe from my magic," warned Savanti. "Even from the past, I can find you and send you this message of your impending, inevitable doom!"

"A message of doom, only when you want to send the very best," remarked Mikey, in an attempt to lighten the mood, but the creepy image of Savanti's face really killed any mood lightening attempts.

"You should never have interfered with my plans to capture the time sceptre, now you Turtles, along with Harry Potter, will pay the price for your meddling, when everything to know, everything you care about, will be wiped completely out of history," taunted Savanti and the group looked at him. "Be that as it may, I have not abandoned my plans to capture the time sceptre, so rest assure that I will deal with Lord Simultaneous and his apprentice soon enough. However, before that moment, your entire timeline will be erased from existence."

"Why wait, bring it now bonehead!" prodded Raph but Savanti did not even acknowledge the threat.

"If you wish to attempt to stop my plan, you can find me in the ring of fire," concluded Savanti.

"Hey, listen to me, I'm talking to you!" yelled Raph as he sprung up, Sais drawn, but the bones dropped to the ground, causing Raph to connect with nothing but air. Raph dropped from above, looking around with absolute irritation etched in his face, as he turned from side to side. "Man, why don't these bad guys stay down when we put them down?"

"You notice something funny, it was almost like a one way message, like we could here him, and we couldn't, after all, he did not respond to anything that happened around him," remarked Harry and the others nodded in agreement.

"Yeah you've got a point Harry, I mean consider it, it's almost like a recording or a time capsule, those bones were enchanted, it's almost like he knew we would be here tonight and sent us that message," remarked Don, as the others suddenly looked rather nervous at the possibilities, concerning what Savanti had said.

"So, do you think Savanti could make good on the threat he gave us tonight?" asked Leo and the others shrugged, before they turned to Harry.

"Very possible, but something about this entire business is rather sketchy, as is time travel in general," commented Harry. "Inorganic material has been rumored to be sent through time and space in the past, but it's very much frowned upon as even the slightest thing could scramble the entire timeline. Still, you know the fact that Savanti managed to figure out that we'd be here at this exact place, at this exact time, and the remains of this exact dinosaur would be here is rather disturbing, given the fact how difficult it would be to predict something. The odds of that would be rather long, which suggest to me that extremely powerful dark magic forces are at work."

Don walked over to a map of Earth, before absent mindedly running it over with his finger, before spotting what he was looking for.

"There, the ring of fire, a ring of volcanoes around the Pacific Ocean area," commented Don under his breath, as they moved in to get a closer look. "Still, I don't see anyway we can get there, I mean we need transportation, a time machine of some sorts, as there is no way that…"

Suddenly, as if on cue a swirling vortex of temporal energy manifested around the area of room behind the Turtles and Harry, causing to spin around, ready for anything dangerous that might have come through, but relaxed slightly, only slightly, as the form of the bumbling Apprentice Time Mistress, Renet, who exited the portal with a bubbly smile on her face, as she spotted the Turtles and Harry.

"You just happened to open your big mouth, Don," muttered Harry from the side of his mouth, so Renet could not hear him.

"Oh my gosh, it's like so great to see you all again, I mean, it's been so long!" cried Renet as she made her way forward, to greet the group. "Well, actually it seemed like a long time, but when you're in null time, you never know."

"Right, hi Renet, now this can't be a coincidence, exactly why were you sent here?" asked Leo.

"Well, my final exam is coming up, and if I pass, I'll be promoted from Apprentice Timestress to Temporal Explicator First Grade," said Renet as she bounced up and down in excited in a rather cartoonish manner. "So, anything this chrono-crisis is what I have to fix, and you know, given the fact you helped stop that demon before, I was wondering if you guys would you know, like to help."

Renet looked at the group with a hopeful expression on her face, as they looked up at each other, with various expressions on their face. Sure, Renet did mean well enough, but the fact remained that they got into a huge mess because of her before, including nearly getting destroyed by Savanti Romero and then by Ultimate Drako. Her immaturity combined with the power in the time sceptre was a rather damning element.

"Hang on Renet, could we talk for just a few minutes?" asked Leo and Renet nodded calmly, as Leo motioned for his brothers, who all huddled together, so they could talk in privacy as they tried to figure out exactly how to tackle this matter. "Look, it's obvious from where I'm standing. You know Savanti's setting a trap, I know Savanti's setting a trap, but Simultaneous hasn't quite figured that out yet?"

"Besides leaving this to Renet isn't exactly the smartest move in the world, there's more of a chance that all of humanity could be wiped out if we let her go into the past alone, than if we just leave Savanti alone to do whatever to the timeline," commented Raph.

"Besides, something's been bugging me, if Savanti could erase us, wouldn't it already have happened by now?" asked Don.

"Yeah, you do have a point Don, this entire mess stinks," remarked Mikey.

"So, we're going to have to help her," concluded Harry, who had more than his fill regarding the time sceptre, but realized the implications if Renet tried to solve this problem alone. Privately, Harry was appalled at Simultaneous for entrusting such a potential looming crisis to Renet.

"Excellent, glad for your help, and trust me, it's going to be a breeze!" squealed Renet, as Harry, Raph, Don, Leo, and Mikey looked a bit distrustful as Renet, when she held the time sceptre out in front of her, ready to transport them back. "Don't worry, I've been practicing with the time sceptre, I've gotten really good."

The time sceptre began to light up, as a wave of temporal energy roughly engulfed Harry, the Turtles, and Renet, pulling them roughly into the distinct past at the speed of light. It seemed with the time travel, the further that one went back, the more mind numbing and nausea inducing the journey became. After what seemed like an eternity but was really only a matter of moments, a wormhole opened over the ground, spitting out the group, causing them to viciously slam to the ground with a loud earth shattering rattle.

"I thought you said you were getting good!" snapped Raph, as he pulled himself to his feet, looking rather shaken and quite rattled, as he connected, but Renet also pulled herself to her feet, looking around.

"I am," replied Renet defensively, before her eyes widened as she looked around. "Wow, we're here."

"Should we be worried that she seems so surprised by that fact?" asked Mikey, as the others managed to pull themselves up to a standing position as well, as the cobwebs cleared, to notice that there were several dinosaurs in the area around them.

"Look at that, it's an Apatosaurus, a real life Apatosaurus," breathed Don in an excited voice, as he looked from side to side, seeing the dinosaur off in the distance, as the others looked around, to see a vicious looking little dinosaur pick at the corpse of one, eating the flesh off of its bones.

"On your toes guys, we could look like snacks to some of these people," said Leo but Raph just scoffed at that.

"I ain't afraid any prehistoric dino," commented Raph, but Harry raised his hand in the air to get their attention.

"Be that as it may, we have to be very careful, the slightest thing altered, and there's a very strong possibility that all of human history could be altered, I mean this is not an alternate universe, we are in the past of our own world and if we want it to become like the future we left behind, we had best be careful," said Harry in a serious voice, as he looked around nervously, apprehensive at touching anything. Even if one insect was squashed, there was the potential to have serious ramifications for all of history.

"So what you're trying to say if we leave these clothes here, some archeologist in our time could find them and freak out?" asked Raph and Harry nodded to confirm his statement.

"That settles it, we better pack everything up, not like we need disguises in the first place when we're in the past," remarked Leo, as the Turtles began to remove their disguises, beginning to pack them together, it would be much easier to make the journey without them and not to mention the beating sun would cause problems with their heavy covering.

After several minutes, with everything packed up, the Turtles and Harry, joined Renet, who was looking around.

"I think we're really close, at least we should be if," muttered Renet under her breath, and Don stopped suddenly, as he became rather light headed, his eyes watering as he let out a sneeze. The others looked at him, but before anything could be said, Don let out another sneeze, this one much louder and a loud rumbling began to shake the ground beneath them.

"Uh, gesundheit," offered Mikey feebly as dust began to kick up from behind them and it was obvious while, as a large group of dinosaurs began to stampede, on the tails of the Turtles, Harry, and Renet who all looked in horror, before Leo finally caught himself.

"RUN!" shouted Leo in an authorative voice and they did not need to be told twice, as the group bolted forward, on the run from the stampeding dinosaurs, as fast as they could move, but obviously, many of the dinosaurs were picking up speed much quicker than anyone could know, as they ran.

"Way to go, sneezey," said Raph in a sarcastic tone of voice, as he looked at Don with irritation, who looked on apologetically, before he turned his head slightly towards Renet.

"Renet, use the time sceptre, it can beam us out of here!" shouted Don at the absent minded apprentice time mistress, as she responded by looking at him with a wide eyed look.

"Oh right," remarked Renet as she stopped in the middle of the stampede, as she held the time sceptre out, but it did not come to life, not one spark of temporal magic, as Renet shook it. "Come on, work, work, come on, I thought we had an understanding."

The Turtles and Harry were already several feet away from Renet, before they realized she had stopped right in the middle of a stampede, as a large group of dinosaurs came barreling down the trail behind her. Sighing, Don rushed over, before he firmly grasped Renet by the wrist.

"Renet, wake up!" yelled Don, as he pulled Renet forward, causing her to snap out of her state and realize that in fact she was still in the middle of a stampede, as down the trail, the others ducked and dodged, as the dinosaurs seemed to not know where they were going, in fact they did not care if they mowed down anything in their path.

"Man, those things just won't quit coming!" grumbled Raph, as he leapt from side to side, as several dinosaurs trampled down the path, in an attempt to flatten him.

"Yeah, but at least think of all the exercise we'll get by dodging these things," remarked Mikey, as he just barely leapt to the side to avoid a dinosaur charge, before he watched Harry calmly stand with his back towards one of the dinosaurs. Just as the terrible lizard rushed right towards him, Harry flipped over, landing on the beast's back with expert precision.

"Guys, follow my lead!" called Harry and the others nodded, as Raph spiraled into the air, landing firmly on the back of the dinosaur. Mikey looked around, avoiding being ran over, before he propelled himself onto the dinosaur. Leo copied that movement and landed expertly on the back of the dinosaur, hanging firmly onto the back of its neck, as they moved forward. Don leapt up, also assisting Renet under the back of a stampeding dinosaur. Harry pointed over towards a low cliff to the side, before he propelled himself towards the cliff, managing to land firmly, onto his feet. The others followed themselves one by one, landing on the top of the cliff, out of reach as the dinosaur stampede ran off into the distance, kicking up a huge amount of dust as they disappeared off into the distance.

The entire group regrouped from their near death experience, breathing heavily as Raph turned to Renet with an irritated look on his face.

"Really nice save with the time sceptre, Renet!" snapped Raph, shaking his head, but Renet kneeled down, looking at the time sceptre, with a confused look.

"It's not my fault, the time sceptre stopped working for some reason," whined Renet in a defensive tone, as she looked at it. "I don't understand what could have happened."

"Could something have shaken loose inside from the stampede?" suggested Harry and this seemed like a profitable avenue of investigation, but a snorting sound distracted the group, causing Raph to spin around when he realized it was coming behind him.

"Hey!" shouted Raph in an agitated voice, as he found out a large triceratops had found its way to the side of the cliff, and was sniffing towards Raph's back. Raph slowly backed off as the dinosaur looked at Raph.

"Hey, big guy," commented Mikey as he kneeled down to greet the triceratops, before turning to Raph with a smirk. "I think he likes you Raph, you should embrace this, not many people think you smell good."

Raph looked at Mikey with an irritated expression etched on his face, as he felt around on the pack on his back, as he heard a slight crunching sound. Reaching in, Raph began to remove something from the pack.

"Lose this?" asked Raph, as he tossed a bag of potato chips right at Mikey's feet and Mikey just grinned.

"Right, I always keep a bag of chips on me, because you never know when you're going to need a snack," remarked Mikey as he watched the dinosaur longingly look at the bag of chips. "Ah, you're a good dino, aren't you?"

Mikey opened the back of chips, before he removed one and tossed it to the triceratops.

"I think I'm going to call Zog," commented Mikey, referring to the Triceraton that assisted them in one of their many battles with the Shredder, as he watched the triceratops eat the potato chip. "Maybe you're Zog's great-great-great-great-grand pappy."

"Mikey, Zog was an alien," said Don in an indignant voice. "Plus, not to mention you might have just altered all of human history, by feeding to that dinosaur a potato chip from the future."

Mikey looked on, before shrugging and tossing Zog another chip, which the dinosaur caught and ate, before Raph whacked him across the back of the head with a solid smack.

"Way to go doofus," criticized Raph as he looked at Mikey in irritation, but they were brought out of their thoughts by a humming sound coming over the time sceptre. "Now what is that thing doing?"

"Oooh, I think it's overheating, it's not really supposed to glow read," said Renet as the time sceptre began to illuminate in a shade of red, as a blinded light appeared, before Zog sniffed the air, before growling angrily as the dinosaur looked towards a rustling sound in the brushes, as there was distinct movement.

"What do see Zog?" asked Mikey, but a group of dinosaurs with glowing red eyes sprung from the bushes and charged the entire group, red eyes glowing, as Don's widened, as he recognized them immediately.

"Deinonychus," breathed Don in a voice that was combined with both awe and horror, as the vicious, blood thirsty predators rushed them. "Be careful, they have sharp teeth and a claw that is about as sharp as a sickle on each hand."

"You know, you being a dinosaur fanatic was more endearing when we weren't about to get eaten by real dinosaurs," said Mikey as he screamed as the predators jumped up to join them on the cliff. Quickly, the group scattered, with Leo blocking an attempt of the claw swing with his katana, backing him off, before he jumped up and managed to stagger the beast back with a kick. Harry used his speed to dodge around, forcing two Deinonychus to move his way against them, before Harry jumped up into the air, with a graceful somersault, causing the to beasts to run together, taking each other out.

Raph rushed around, before the beast ripped the Sais out of Raph's hands with his teeth, before launching them to the ground. A back up plan was to dodge around, before picking the Sais back up, and springing up. Loosening some rocks with his weapon, Raph flung them onto the head of the dinosaur, causing them to crash onto its head, dropping it to the ground, as Mikey screamed, as he was backed off by a dinosaur in the corner. Quickly, Harry and Raph managed to hoist a rock up, to throw it, before getting the beast's attention. The beast spun around, allowing Mikey to spin his weapon, gaining momentum before he blasted the beast right in the face, backing him off only slightly.

One of the Deinonychus advanced upon Renet, eyes locked on the time sceptre, as it walked forward, possessed like it was on a mission. In an instant, Don moved forward, rushing the dinosaur, engaging it in battle.

"Stand back Renet!" shouted Don, as he swung his Bo Staff right at his dinosaur opponent. The beast caught the weapon in his mouth, before clamping his jaw shut. The end of the Bo Staff snapped off, before Don was knocked backwards, as the dinosaur pushed Don onto his shell, snapping his jaw towards Don's head, as Don attempted to fight him off, as the others were tied up with the other possessed dinosaurs. He attempted to tuck his feet in to push off, but the dinosaur was unyielding in his attempts to literally bite Don's head off. Don reached for his Bo Staff, while simultaneously attempting to keep the dinosaur off of him. Then suddenly, Don sneezed hard, causing the beast to stall in its efforts to take a bite out of the turtle.

The beast stepped back as Don pulled himself to his feet, as he looked around, sniffling as he looked from side to side in surprise.

"Saved by a sneeze, now that's embarrassing," muttered Don but he was not saved for long as the predator moved towards him but thankfully Zog the Triceratops rushed forward, catching the beast right in the side with a running gore with its horns, dropping the beast. The predator make its way to his feet and was attacked once again, before its eyes stopped glowing red. The Deinonychus looked around, before it ran off, it's fellows following the predator, as they disappeared back into the bushes, the cloud of their possession having mysteriously lifted. The entire group moved over, looking around.

"Way to go Zog!" praised Mikey in a boisterous voice, as he turned to the Triceratops. "Good solider."

"Why did those dinos run off suddenly?" demanded Raph. "Did you think we scared them off?"

"No," answered Harry in a swift and calm matter, as he looked off into the distance, it was almost like the calm before the store, he sensed that something was coming, but what he could not tell.

"So do you think something else bad is coming now?" prodded Raph and Harry turned with a serious expression etched on his face, before he addressed his brother.

"Yes," said Harry curtly, as a sound of thunderous footsteps echoed in the distance, once again shaking the ground, as the time sceptre still glowed red, as there was obviously something approaching nearby, as he heard several trees crack in the distance as it moved closer. "Something's coming, something that's really big."

"Something that's big and friendly?" asked Mikey hopefully, but the loud thunderous footsteps that echoed through the distance, not to mention the loud growl, indicated that Mikey could not be further off from his hopes at all.

"More like big and hungry," inputted Don and the front trees crashed down, as the large growling form of a tyrannosaurus rex appeared. On its back was the form of the diabolical demon sorcerer known as Savanti Romero, who was looking down at them from high above, with a staff, as his steed growled angrily.

"Savanti Romero," said Leo in a disgusted voice, as the diabolical demon's high cold laughter echoed throughout the air, as Renet gasped slightly in horror, as Savanti looked down at them.

"Welcome Turtles, welcome Harry Potter," declared Savanti, as he looked at the group, who looked back at him. "Welcome to your extinction."

The large tyrannosaurus rex looked down at the Turtles and Harry with a predatory glare, through its glowing red eyes. It was obvious that they were dinner time and they were the main course on the menu.


	20. Chapter 20: Savanti's Revenge Part II

**Chapter Twenty: Savanti's Revenge Part Two:**

Savanti reared his head back and cackled madly, as his dinosaur companion also gave a mighty roar as Harry, Leo, Don, Raph, and Mikey stood ready, along with Renet who was taking a few quiet steps backwards. After a moment, Savanti turned to the group, a malignant expression etched upon the demon sorcerer's face.

"Hand over the time sceptre and I may make your death less prolonged," demanded Savanti in a wicked voice, before he turned to the group, who remained focused, stern, as they stared down Savanti. "Very well, you have dug your collective graves."

Savanti waved his hand, as it illuminated in a red color. A rustling from the nearby bushes indicated another group of possessed dinosaurs rushed the group, who readied themselves for battle. Harry dodged the snapping jaws of one of his attackers, while Mikey swung his weapons. A loud shatter indicated the dinosaur's jaw was cracked and it gave an anguished roar, before it lunged forward, snapping at the Turtles and Harry, as Leo grabbed Renet by the wrist, before he hoisted her up and set her a top of Zog the Triceratops.

"Renet, stay here, fix the time sceptre," said Leo sternly and Renet's eyes widened in absolute horror, as Raph just barely held back the teeth of his dinosaur opponent, Leo rushed forward, slashing his sword at the back of the neck of the terrible lizard. The lizard roared, turning it's attention to Leo, allowing Raph to mount the beasts back, grabbing it tightly around the head and twisting it with all of his strength.

"This is nuts!" whined Renet as she shook the time sceptre, but it stilled hummed, glowing red, as it was unable to go. "Work, work you stupid thing, come on, can't you see this is a life and death situation?"

Mikey and Don extended Mikey's weapons forward, allowing Harry to spring up, and step on the heads of the dinosaurs, causing them to be staggered. At that exact moment, Raph and Leo rushed in, slicing their weapons at the beasts, backing them off. Savanti extended his staff forwards, as he directed his tyrannosaurus rex minion towards the quintet of ninjas. The beast, hungry for fresh meat, bared its teeth, as it made its way towards the Turtles and Harry. Mikey was knocked to his back by one of the minions, as Harry rushed in, engaging the dinosaur into battle, picking up a rock and leaping up, cracking it across the beasts skull. The large tyrannosaurus rex bent down, ready to make Mikey the first course for the evening, but at that second, Zog the Triceratops rushed forward, causing Renet to shriek in surprise, as she just barely managed to hang on. The Triceratops struck the Tyrannosaurus Rex right in the side of the leg, backing it off. The beast swiped its claws at the horned dinosaur, but to its credit, it remained its ground. The Triceratops stepped back and rushed forward, goring it with its horns. Savanti leapt from the back of his steed, as it dropped to the ground, punctured, with blood dripping from its chest, with Renet down on the ground, still attempting to get the time sceptre to work.

Savanti looked around, as he watched his dinosaur minions begin to lose against the Turtles and Harry. Angrily, he narrowed his eyes, before he raised the staff high into the air, causing it to glow, as he looked skyward enough.

"The time sceptre will be mine," grunted Savanti in a wicked voice. "Winged warriors of the sky, hear your master's voice, bring the time sceptre and the one who wields it, to me!"

Several winged dinosaurs circled in the air nearby and suddenly, the spell struck them, their eyes glowing red, before they dove down towards Renet! Renet screamed, as one of the flying beasts dove at her, clawed feet extended, as it dive bombed at her head, dropping her to the ground and causing the time sceptre to fly from her hands. Quickly, the dinosaur caught it, as it flew over towards its master, dropping the time sceptre into Savanti's hands, who broke out into an ear to ear wicked grin, as he held it up triumphantly.

"At last the time sceptre is mine, now for the Timestress herself," shouted Savanti, as he pointed his staff, directing the winged minions forward. Renet screamed, as they ripped her from the ground, before they propelled themselves forward, carrying the Mistress Time Apprentice off. When they realized what was happening, the Turtles and Harry rushed forward, but Savanti pointed his newly acquired time sceptre, which was now working. Large rocks erupted from the ground, forming a barrier between the group of Savanti, blocking them from moving forward. "Sorry to cut this meeting so short, but the Timestress and I have a pressing engagement with a meteor"

Savanti laughed as one of his winged minions lowered down to the ground. In an instant, the demon sorcerer mounted the winged creature, as it flew forward, carrying the demon sorcerer off and out of sight, just as the Turtles and Harry reappeared from behind the large jagged rocks, helplessly watching as Savanti moved further out of sight.

"Well there goes our ride," commented Leo in a despondent voice.

"Never mind that, we need to move now, Savanti's up to something, we need to figure out what," said Harry quickly, as the others nodded in agreement, before they moved forward, in pursuit of the demon sorcerer. It was a one in a million shot that they could find him, as he could have been gone absolutely anywhere.

Renet's eyes slowly opened, as her head hurt, as she began to come to her senses.

"Man what a horrible nightmare..." stated Renet before she screamed as she looked up, seeing the face of Savanti Romero.

"Welcome to your demise," stated Savanti as he began with a loud laughter echoed, as Renet was chained up to the top of a large dome constructed of dinosaur bones, as Renet was helplessly hanging in mid air.

Several moments later, the group made their way towards the large jungles, which judging by the rising heat, they were getting rather close to the Ring of Fire. As they moved forward, Don leaned forward, looking rather delirious, before he let out a loud sneeze. He looked rather dizzy, and the group turned around, seeing the state of their brother, the cold, in addition to the heat of the looming volcanoes seemed to be really affecting him.

"Don, are you okay?" asked Leo in a concerned voice.

"Do you need a chip?" prompted Mikey, as he removed a chip from his bag, before Don shook his head. Shrugging, Mikey began to eat the chip.

"Yeah, I'm fine, but even with find Renet in time, I don't know how much good it will do if we save her," commented Don weakly. "We don't have much time left."

"Uh come again," commented Mikey in an absolutely befuddled tone of voice, as he looked at Don with a confused expression.

"Yeah, what's with this, there isn't much time left?" demanded Raph as he stepped forward, but Don craned his neck upwards, before he turned to address his brothers.

"Well, by the looks of things, we are in the late Cretaceous period and I don't think that's a star up there," remarked Don seriously, as he pointed to a glowing red light in the sky that was very off in the distance, that was close enough to be visible. "Well, that looks like it might be an asteroid, the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs. You know, the cataclysmic final disaster that caused them to all be extinct and was the catalyst for the ice age."

The group gulped in terror, when they realized the implications of what Don was saying.

"Well that just makes everything all the better," commented Harry in a dry, sarcastic voice.

"Yeah, thanks for the pep talk, Don," added Raph with a roll of his eyes, as he shook his head, as they turned, before they fought through the jungles once again, urgency was mounting heavily. Time was in fact running out, both for Renet and their entire existence.

"What are you going to do to me?" asked Renet in an absolute mortified voice, as Savanti stared down at her, before deciding to explain his plan for to the apprentice, as she was immobilized by the chains, despite frantic struggles.

"It's very simple, a heavy amount of raw magical energy will be summoned from the skies, through the time sceptre," commented Savanti, as he indicated upwards to the large swirling vortex of magical energy high above the skies, as the light that extended outwards began to tint the sky in a red tone. "The energy from the time sceptre will connect to you, destroying you and shall give me ultimate power!"

Renet shrieked in absolutely horror as Savanti laughed, as he watched the spell gain power. In a matter of minutes, it would be ready, but Savanti could wait, as he had all the time in the world and soon, not only Renet would be destroyed, but five more thorns from his side would vanish completely from existence.

The Turtles and Harry hacked and slashed their way towards the heavy jungle coverage, before they reached the edge of a cliff, spotting the large dome of bones off in the distance.

"Great!" shouted Raph angrily. "How much you want to bet Renet's at the top of that thing?"

"Guess, we're going to have to find a way to get up there then," commented Leo but Harry looked closer, seeing movement.

"That's not our only movement," remarked Harry darkly, as he pointed to a dinosaur that was moving down below around the bone spiral. "Leave to Savanti to leave sentries to make sure no one comes out."

"A velociraptor!" breathed Don in an awed voice, as he recognized the dinosaur on sight, as Mikey gulped behind him.

"Ah crud, those are the worst ones, I've seen Jurassic Park, twice," said Mikey as his eyes widened, but Raph did not seemed to convinced about the dinosaur's menace, as he looked at it with the dinosaur with distaste.

"That's a velociraptor, puh-lease," scoffed Raph, as he looked down at the dinosaur, before he moved forward, but Harry coughed, as he pointed further down, off to the side of the spiral of bones, as more predators emerged, joining the first dinosaur.

"Did I mention that they hunt in packs?" asked Don, as the group watched, as the velociraptors circled the spiral of bones, as it was obvious they had it well guarded, to obviously ensure that no one passed. Leo took a deep breath, before he turned to the group, closing his eyes.

"Okay, we need a plan and we need one quick, so give me a few minutes to think…" stated Leo but Mikey cut him off, with a triumphant look on his face, as an idea came to mind.

"Leave it to me, bro," commented Mikey as he stepped over. On the other side of the cliff, the velciraptors sniffed around, to look for food, but the rustling in the bushes prompted the predators to look up, as they fixed their eyes on the bushes, ready to pounce on any prey. "Hey fido, how about some twenth century dino chow?"

At that moment, Mikey's bag flew out of the bushes, causing chips to fly in every which direction. However, the velociraptors did not seem to be interested in the chips, rather they looked up, growling as they moved forward.

"Great, they're looking up at us like we're the dino chow!" shouted Raph in an absolutely irritated voice, as they could hear the dinosaurs approaching them.

"Mikey that was your big plan, they're carnivores, they don't eat chips!" shouted Don in an irritated voice, as the smacking sound echoed in the distance.

"Way to go, shell for brains," remarked Raph, as the dinosaurs scaled the cliff, ready for action, as Raph turned to Leo. "So now what's the plan?"

"I'm thinking!" snapped Leo shortly, as they group backed off, as the dinosaurs sprung from the bushes, growling at the group, as they stalked them.

"Could you do it more quickly?" asked Raph in an irritated voice, as the group looked on apprehensively, as more climbed up.

"I've got an idea, RUN LIKE HELL FOR THE SPIRAL!" shouted Harry, as the group rushed forward, dodging under the attempts of the velociraptors attempts to take a bite out of them. The group slid down the cliff, kicking several clouds of dust upwards, as the velociraptors turned around, before they made their way forward, growling, not wanting their prey to slip towards their fingers. Harry leapt up, and latched onto the spiral, as he attempted to pull himself up, climbing his way up, as the others followed him one from by one, including Mikey, who looked absolutely mortified at what he was climbing.

"Mikey, move it, quit fooling around!" shouted Leo and Mikey quickly scrambled upwards, when the velociraptor snapped at his ankles. Mikey managed to just barely climb out of reach, along with the others, as they made their way up the dome, towards the top. The velociraptors made a couple of futile attempts to move after them, but found that there was no way they could catch up to the group. As a result, the Turtles and Harry scaled their way upwards.

"I think I'll leave the plan to someone who won't foul it up next time," commented Mikey.

"Good idea," said Leo shortly, as they made their way upwards, as Mikey winced as he realized he grabbed hold of the eye socket of a skull.

"Ewww, please tell me this isn't made of what I think it's made of," shouted Mikey, as he just barely managed to make his way further up, as they continued their climb.

"It's made of bones, fresh dinosaur bones," commented Don as he studied the dome. "Thousands of thousands of them."

"What did I say, I said don't tell me!" shouted Mikey, in a mortified voice.

"Let's go, time is running out, we need to reach the top soon," stated Harry in an urgent voice, as they made their forward, as the swirling of dark magic high above, along with the red tinted sky indicated that Savanti's plan had went off well so long, but if it had been completely executed, Harry reasoned that the dastardly demon would be long gone, along with any traces of any rituals he would have done.

Renet looked up, urgently, as she attempted to pull herself loose. The position she was in was very uncomfortable to say the least, and it severely cramped her neck, not to mention the chains left little room for movement at all, no doubt what Savanti intended.

"Uh, hello, Mr. Demon Sorcerer guy, could you like let me down?" begged Renet. "Seriously, I am so totally done with this okay, you need to let me down, this is so totally uncomfortable."

"Wretched child, soon your tongue will be silenced forever," commented Savanti wickedly as he looked high above, the sceptre began to glow, it was only a matter of time now. "The spells have been cast, your sacrifice is inevitable, no one can stop me now!"

"Savanti!" shouted the voice of Leo, as Savanti looked up to see the Turtles and Harry off in the distance at the other end of the dome, as lighting whipped from the sky right behind them, as they stared down the demon sorcerer with defiant looks on their face. "Let her go now, demon!"

"Or else," added Raph as he twirled his Sais, as he looked at Savanti with a glare. Renet looked up, rather hopefully that perhaps she would be saved before she was destroyed but Savanti just looked rather disinterested at the attempts of the five warriors to stall his efforts and after a few seconds he decided to acknowledge their presence.

"Persistent little warriors, aren't we?" scoffed Savanti in a disinterested voice as he started down each and every one of them, before he just laughed off their threats. "It matters little what you attempt to do to me, as your fates have been sealed."

"Guys, he's like insane, he's planning to destroy the timeline, your timeline," said Renet and Mikey gave a gasp of horror, as the others looked with horrified looks as they took steps forward, as Renet added, almost as an afterthought. "And me."

"Yes, as the Timestress as so crudely pointed out, her destruction is inevitable, as is yours," said Savanti, as he wickedly looked at the Turtles and Harry. "In a matter of moments, a bolt of energy will be called down, channeled directly through the time sceptre. The time sceptre will be charged to full power, before it shoots towards her, completely obliterating the time stress and causing a backlash of pure, raw, unfocused magical energy to be shot off in every direction."

"A blast of magical energy that powerful, especially that unfocused, it could have serious implications, in fact, it has the potential to ignite every volcano in the Ring of Fire," commented Harry darkly and Don gasped when he realized the implications of what Harry had just said.

"But, if all the volcanoes get set off simultaneously, it could alter the Earth's rotation tilting it slightly, just enough to cause the asteroid that eliminated the dinosaurs to miss its target, thus they would not be killed off," remarked Don darkly. "Don't you see what will happen, humanity would never rise, never exist, we would never exist."

"Just think of it, no more Turtles, no more Harry Potter, and no more Renet, and with the sacrifice of an apprentice Timestress, not to mention an entire timeline, it will finally give me the power that I need to oppose and eliminate Lord Simultaneous, thus ascending to my destined role of the master of all time," said Savanti, as he looked towards the group, a mad sort of glee etched in his eyes. "I shall enjoy watching each and every one of you disappear into oblivion."

"Disappear this, demon!" shouted Raph angrily, as he rushed forward.

"Raph wait," stated Harry but Raph had already jumped up, Sais extended in an attempt to attack Savanti, but the sorcerer extended his arm, causing Raph to blasted backwards, in mid air. Raph flew backwards, landing right next to his brothers, as Savanti just looked at them with narrowed eyes, before he nodded his head.

"I intended to allow the dinosaurs dispense with you," commented Savanti, as he raised his arms, causing some of the bones around his feet to rattle, as they glowed red. "However, if you are so insistent on a battle, the job shall be done personally!"

Savanti raised his arms high into the air as several bones began to levitate into the air, swirling around in a vortex, before Savanti waved his arms. The bones constructed themselves around Savanti, forming a battle suit, before the demon sorcerer stepped forward, ready for battle.

"Let's have some fun!" cheered Savanti in a triumphant voice, as he moved forward towards the Turtles and Harry, before he sprung up. The group scattered, causing Savanti's fist to impact the top of the dome, causing it to rumble. Savanti turned around and Harry impacted Savanti with a vicious kick to the face, staggering the demon sorcerer backwards, but Harry found himself having to dodge a bolt of solid magical energy.

"Take care of Savanti, if I can free Renet, the spell would not be able to be cast," said Leo, as the others nodded, as Harry slid underneath the vicious blast of magic from Savanti. The demon spun around and repelled a shot, before he knocked Harry directly to his back. Harry was dropped, as Don stepped forward, slamming his Bo Staff against the bone armor of Savanti, backing the demon off a step, but Savanti quickly reared back his arm before sending Don flying backwards, with a thud, as he watched Leo attempt to hack Renet's chains free, but he stepped over, before he raised his arms and slammed them across the back of Leo's shell, dropping him to his hands and knees, a pained expression on the turtle's face as Savanti stood on his shell.

"Pathetic, I thought you would offer more sport than this," commented Savanti as he casually deflected Raph's Sais back towards him. Raph was then knocked down, as Mikey spun around, attempting to break Savanti's armor with a well placed swing of his weapon, but Savanti knocked him backwards. Mikey dropped on his back as Harry once again moved in, staggering Savanti back a step, but Savanti placed his hands on the ground, blasting the Boy-Who-Lived backwards with vibration that went all the way across the spiral.

"If only there is some way to use Savanti's own magic against him," muttered Harry desperately, as he watched Leo come back, in an attempt to fight off Savanti, slashing his katanas at the bone armor, but Savanti would not go down, in fact, he dropped Leo effortlessly. It was unfortunate that the time sceptre had an adverse effect on Harry's magic, as in completely suppressing it, as it would be a completely fair fight. Raph and Mikey once again attempted to attack Savanti but Savanti smashed them, causing them to fly back. Mikey landed hard and Raph skidded over the side of the spiral out of sight.

"Raph!" yelled Mikey but Raph had just managed to hang on, before he fell to his doom, as he attempted to pull himself up.

"This guy's really getting under my shell," grumbled Raph as he struggled but after a few seconds, he managed to pull himself up, as Leo moved over, attempting to cut Renet loose again, as the magic above them began to swirl even more, but Savanti rushed over and knocked Leo backwards, as Don looked over as the time sceptre, an idea coming to his mind right away.

"His magic is channeled through the time sceptre, if we take it out of the equation, we'll be able to stop the spell," commented Don.

"Do it, we'll keep Savanti busy," commented Harry, as he sprung up, before he kicked Savanti in the side, staggering him back, as Don moved forward, towards the chains that held Renet up, before he slammed his Bo Staff into the chain holding Renet's right leg, making sure to exert enough force to break it.

"Oh careful Don, it's a long way down," warned Renet and she screamed as the other chain broke, leaving her hanging from the spiral only by her wrists. She looked up fretfully, as Don made his way over, before he scaled the spiral, towards where the time sceptre was hanging. "Don, where are you going?"

"I'll be right back," said Don in an absent minded voice, as he saw the sceptre glowing, he needed to find a way to remove it somehow, as the sounds of battle echoed from below, as Harry had managed to back off Savanti with a couple of kicks, nearly knocking his enemy off the dome of dinosaur bones to the ground below, but Savanti levitated Harry in the hair, before he threw him forward, causing him to slam against Raph, Leo, and Mikey with an amazing amount of force, as he looked up high above, as Don was reaching the time sceptre, nearly within reaching distance of the powerful magical artifact. Narrowly his eyes, Savanti raised his hand towards Don.

"Did you really think there would be an conceivable way I would allow you to take the time sceptre?" asked Savanti as a protecting shield charm began to burst outwards towards the sceptre, impacting Don, knocking him off the pedestal, causing him to fall forward, just barely able to grab onto a bone, to prevent him from falling down below. "The girl will be sacrificed and with it, your entire timeline!"

"I don't think so!" yelled Raph as he rushed forward, attempting to stab his Sais through the armor, managing to find a small imperfection, as Savanti gave a loud, anguished scream as Raph backed him off. Quickly, Mikey, Leo, and Harry also joined the attack, backing Savanti off, as he skidded towards the side of the dome, before the demon's eyes narrowed in absolute anger, as he turned to face the three Turtles and Harry.

"That's it, no more games!" thundered Savanti as he blasted both of the Turtles and Harry with high impact waves of magical energy, knocking them on their backs, immobilizing them in stasis fields, as more bones swirled in the air, fixing themselves upon Savanti's armor, causing the demon to look down at the group with a crazed expression etched in his eyes. "I will obliterate you and everything you know, when I'm done, there will be no evidence left that you ever even existed!"

Savanti's inability to make sure that he had all of his enemies secured, was proving to be costly, as Don pulled Renet to safety, as the loud laughter echoed throughout the sky, as the time sceptre began to glow at its brightest yet, as Don aimed his Bo Staff towards the large bone tower holding it.

"Savanti!" shouted Don, as he caught the demon's attention, before he had the Bo Staff. "Say good bye to the time sceptre, demon!"

Don threw the Bo Staff directly towards the bone tower holding it up. The impact shattered the bone tower, causing the time sceptre to fall. Instinctively, Savanti dived forward, grabbing onto the structure holding up the time sceptre. He just managed to catch it, just as the bolt of magical energy shot down, connecting with the time sceptre. Savanti screamed loudly when he realized what happened as he began to glow, as he fell backwards over the edge of the dome. All that could be seen was a glowing blinding form of solid magical energy that impacted the water below. The impact of which caused water to splash in every direction, as it bubbled slightly, before it began still, as the stasis spell that Savanti put around Harry, Raph, Leo, and Mikey disappeared, allowing them to get to their feet in a matter of seconds, as Renet and Don moved over, everyone looking rather relieved that Savanti may have been defeated.

"You did it, you saved me, you saved all of humanity and most importantly, I get to graduate!" cried Renet in an absolutely thrilled voice, as the dome began to crumble beneath their feet at that instant.

"Now what?" grumbled Raph as the dome continued to crumble right from underneath where they were standing.

"Now that Savanti's been destroyed, there's no magic to hold up this spiral, everyone off now!" shouted Harry urgently, as a result, the group quickly made their down the spiral as quickly as they could manage, just barely managing to climb down, before the entire dome collapsed around them, just managing to land on the ground. Fortunately, Savanti's velociraptor minions had long since departed, leaving them no threats to contend with on the ground, so everyone breathed a sigh of relief, but the relief was only temporary.

"Uh, we have a problem," said Mikey with a gulp after everyone was suddenly on the ground. "The time sceptre, where is it?"

"Mikey's right, without the time sceptre, there's no way for us to get home," commented Leo gravely, before he turned to Renet. "Renet, is there any way at all you can contact Lord Simultaneous from here?"

"No," responded Renet in a despondent tone of voice and the others looked grave, before Harry took a deep breath, as he saw the red glint in the distance, that seemed to be rather closer than it was when they had looked earlier.

"We have to search, the time sceptre has to be around here somewhere, especially considering the asteroid that could be hitting at any time that will destroy us," said Harry and others nodded, before they moved forward, attempting to find any hint of the time sceptre, hoping it had not sunk down to the bottom, because if that happened, there would be no way whatsoever they can find it.

Fortunately, after over two hours of intensive and nonstop searching with all hope seemingly nearly lost when every avenue turned up empty, Mikey saw a silvery glint in the water.

"Hey, I think I found something!" shouted Mikey in a triumphant voice, as the others walked over and sure enough, Renet reached down, as she pulled it out of the water. Sure enough, it was the time sceptre. She pulled it up out of the depths, it looked a little slimy, but other than that, completely working.

"I think its like back to normal, guys," said Renet as she waved the time sceptre around and sure enough, it began to illuminate in a bright blue light as opposed to the red light that it gave off, when Savanti had taken control of the magical time artifact. "That means, I can send you back home and return to give my report to Lord Simultaneous. Okay, here we go, I hope."

The time sceptre powered up and a time hole appeared behind the Turtles and Harry Potter. A vacuum effect pulled them through, back to their own time, as they began to spiral forward through the year after year at the speed of light, until a portal opening up inside the lair where Master Splinter was deep in meditation, before it dumped the Turtles and Harry directly towards the ground.

"I cannot even begin to imagine where you five have been nor do I want to know," commented Splinter calmly, without even looking behind him, as his sons managed to struggle to their feet, looking rather shaken from their incredible journey through all of time and space.

"If I time travel ever again, no matter when I do it, it will be all too soon," said Harry, feeling rather ill from the trip, as he staggered around, feeling slightly queasy from the after affects, as the others turned to Harry, with nods of agreement.


	21. Chapter 21: Good Genes Part I

**Chapter Twenty One: Good Genes Part One**

In the front room of the Potter Residence, Ginny and Harry were sitting on the floor, with a map of Albania in front of them. Elsewhere in the room, Hermione was sitting on the couch, reading a book on advanced defensive magic for the second time, it was rather interesting and over in the corner, for lack of anything better to do, Hailey found herself playing chess with Ron, losing rather badly. Ron was only slightly average and at times below at most things, but chess was one area where he excelled. While this did no one any good, it just proved that everyone had something they were good at, including Ron. The others were out for the evening or asleep.

"Okay, there are high fluctuations of dark magical energy coming from here, here, and here," remarked Harry, as he marked the map. "All those areas are around the areas where Voldemort hid when he was banished from his body, but the problem is getting inside the country without getting detection. Albania is one of the countries that are sympathetic to Voldemort's cause and a decent portion of his Death Eaters reside there."

"You seem rather adamant that one of the Horcruxes are in that country," remarked Ginny and Harry nodded his head.

"I'm sure of it, Albania has a storied history of dark magic, and thus if it would attract the attention of Voldemort enough for him to hide out there, it would also reason that he could have hid a Horcrux here," commented Harry wisely, as he looked over the map, making sure he had looked over every variable. "Whether it's the Cup or the mystery sixth Horcrux, I have no clue, but it should be there somewhere. Even if Voldemort attempted to mask the signature of the Horcrux, there are still a couple of things that can be done to find it."

Ginny looked over with amusement, as Hailey once again spectacularly lost to Ron.

"You know, I think most of us know better not to play chess with Ron, heck, Dad was the only one who was able to beat him," commented Ginny. "And not to mention that Hailey's even more rubbish at chess than Hermione is."

"I heard that," said Hermione from behind her book.

"You know how Hailey is, she's stubborn, she refuses to admit defeat, no matter what, which is actually a good thing, all things considered," commented Harry as he went back to the map, but a second later, a knock was heard from the other side of the door. "Come in!"

The front door of the Potter Residence opened, revealing Leo, Mikey, and Raph entered, with a very ill looking Don. It appeared that the cold the turtle had been fighting as of late took a turn for the worst.

"Harry, we just found another pocket of Bishop's mutants just outside the city, they're attacking downtown," commented Leo. "We were on our way to pick you up, but I think Don really needs a place to lie down and rest. We would take him back to the lair, but it's a bit far along the way and I don't think he can make it that far."

"I'm fine Leo," rasped Don weakly, but he nearly fell over, wheezing madly as sweat rolled down his face, before he collapsed to the side, as he attempted to hang on, but slumped against the wall, barely able to stand due to a sudden bout of dizziness. "Okay, maybe I am feeling a bit under the weather recently."

"Did you draw that reaction before or after you threw up in the Battle Shell?" asked Mikey with a slight roll of his eyes, as Don collapsed on the couch, breathing heavily.

"I'll be fine, really, just a few hours rest, and I'll be back on my feet, just go…the city is in a danger, this latest wave in the outbreak looks even more dangerous than the rest," breathed Don as Harry levitated a blanket over his brother, before he set it down gently on him.

"Hermione, stay here, contact us immediately if Don's condition worsens," muttered Harry out of the side of his mouth and Hermione nodded, before Hailey and Ginny joined him, both eager to get out for a few hours, especially Hailey who needed to vent some steam on something after being spectacularly beaten in chess numerous times. They went into the next room to get their battle armor and tranquilizer guns, before making their way out of the room, joining Leo, Raph, and Mikey, leaving Don alone in the Potter Residence with Ron and Hermione.

Moments later, the Battle Shell pulled up in downtown Manhattan and sure enough, about a dozen mutants were mindlessly tearing things apart. They appeared to be grotesque crab monsters of some sort, and their claws were doing a substantial bit of damage to everything they slammed them into. The Battle Shell skidded to the stop, as the group exited, ready for action.

"Contain them anyway you can, but do not splatter anything," warned Leo in a serious voice as they rushed in.

"Yeah we don't need their freako DNA splattering and creating any more genetic rejects, we already have Mikey after all," commented Raph and Mikey glared at Raph, before the group moved in. Needless to say, the beasts gave the group their full attention, rushing forward, snapping their claws and baring yellow, deformed fangs at them, while fixing their menacing glares on them through demonic red eyes. Hailey dodged it, before she shot a net right at the beast. The net wrapped around the crab mutant, but the mutant ripped through the material and rushed over, with Harry knocking it backwards with a kick.

"The nets aren't working," breathed Harry, as he just barely blocked the claw shot with a solid shield charm. "Magic is barely even holding these things back."

"It's getting worse," added Ginny as she swung out of the way, before she managed to shoot a stunning spell at the beat. It only enraged the crab moment, as it rushed Ginny.

"This should cool it down," commented Harry, as he shot a tranquilizer dart right in the back of the mutant. The mutant turned its attention to Harry and another tranquilizer dart was impacted it its stomach. Moments later, it dropped to the ground, still moving slightly despite being impacted with a double dose of paralyzing potion.

On the beams of a constructed building, Mikey leapt around, just barely dodging the attacks of really large crab mutant. The mutant attempted time and time again to impale Mikey with its claws, as he just ducked and rolled. It was a constant struggle not to splatter the mutant DNA but at the point, it was necessary as the next mutation may be even more deadly and hard to put down.

"Mikey, lure him this way, I want to try something!" called Harry and Mikey nodded, before Harry removed an empty tranquilizer dart from his pocket, before he tapped it with his finger. He placed it inside the gun and aimed it, before expertly shooting it upwards. The dart impacted the crab moment in the side and a wave of magical energy flowed through the crab mutant, causing each and every one of its nerve endings to be fried. The mutant harmlessly fell to the ground.

"What was that thing Harry?" asked Leo, who just dodged an attack from the crab mutant and the monster's arm was stuck, it attempted to pull free, but Leo loaded up the tranquilizer gun and impacted the beast in the back.

"It's a high impact delayed magical charge that impacts all of the pain receptors at once," explained Harry, as he joined Hailey and Ginny in blasting three nets towards one of the attackers. A triple layer of the magically modified nets just barely managed to pull the crab mutant in place enough for Mikey to knock it out with the dart. "It's not as powerful as the Cruciatus Curse, but it's still a rather potent pain curse, and legal, almost due to the fact it's so obscure that it's been lost in time since the Founders."

"Well, we aren't going to put these things down by playing nice," commented Ginny, as she just barely avoided a crab mutant shot and Harry leapt up, kicking it out of the way, before Raph and Mikey both plugged the beast with tranquilizer darts, dropping it to the ground.

"Yeah, too bad you can't whip up a few more of those things," said Raph, as he avoided the attack of the beast.

"I don't think I can manage more than one or two more in a day, they are draining, but we'll keep that in mind for the future," said Harry as he avoided another attack, before he put down his deadly mutated adversary. On the other end, Mikey did battle with a crab mutant, ducking and dodging attacks, fighting near a power generator. Quickly, Mikey dodged the attack and the crab mutant slammed against the generator. A loud crackle was heard, and at that point, a good portion of New York City was blacked out thanks to electrical charge.

The monster was pained and Raph quickly put him down with a dart to the throat. The monster stepped forward, but a combination of the slight electrical charge and the paralyzing potion had put the beast down for the count. Unfortunately, even more mutants yet stalked the group, as the entire city was engulfed in darkness. No matter what, the outbreak kept sweeping the city bit by bit.

Back at the Potter Residence, the lights went out, causing Ron to look up in absolute horror.

"Bloody hell, what was that?" demanded Ron.

"That was the power going out, Ronald," answered Hermione calmly. "Something must have happened in the city, causing it to go out."

"Power, you mean ekelcity?" asked Ron.

"That's electricity," corrected Hermione. "And yes, that's what I meant, since this is a Muggle home, there would not lighting charms input into the wall, so the electricity would be needed to light the house."

"If you say so, Hermione," commented Ron in a confused tone of voice, before he turned towards the couch, to see Don moaning in absolute agony. "He doesn't too well."

"Don, what is it?" asked Hermione as Don clutched his leg, before he moaned in agony, as he winced, his eyes widening.

"Leg…feels like it's on fire…wound getting worse…pain," said Don in a slurred expression, as sweat began to roll down his cheeks, kicking the blanket off and his leg seemed to be swelling up.

"I think I better get a hold of Harry, this sounds rather serious," said Hermione in a logical voice and Ron nodded, looking apprehensively at the turtle, as Hermione reached around. "Hang on, I think my mirror's in the other room, let me go get it."

Ron opened his mouth to protest, but Hermione was already quickly gone, before he could say anything. Turning his head to the turtle to the couch, Ron's eyes widened, when he saw the mutant growing before his very eyes. Don's eyes began to turn red, as he turned into a large, hulking turtle monster, with a spiked shell and claws, as it turned towards Ron.

"HERMIONE!" cried Ron as he finally found his voice.

"In a minute," said Hermione from the other room.

"But…but…but…but," stuttered Ron eyes widened as Don advanced him. Finally, Ron managed to remember that he in fact had a wand, but it did little good as the monster version of Don viciously knocked the wand from his hand. "HARRY'S BROTHER JUST TURNED INTO A LARGE HULKING BEAST!"

"What?" demanded Hermione, as she entered the room, before stopping in her tracks, as she saw Don angrily upturn the sofa, before he smashed a lamp, growling madly. "What…how could this happen…I thought it was just a…the outbreak…Harry's got to know about this."

"Yes, he should but first don't you think we should get out of here," said Ron and Hermione nodded, for once, the youngest Weasley male had a point, as Don, in a fit of mindless rage continued to smash up the living room, before he turned his attention towards Ron and Hermione, but both of them bolted out the door, as fast as they could move. Don had trouble getting through the door due to his large size, but he rectified that matter by using blunt force to smash the doorway, making it larger, before he advanced on the two, who backed off.

"Basement, now," said Hermione, taking charge of the situation, taking her wand out. "ALOHOMORA!"

The basement door swung open, and Ron and Hermione quickly moved down the stairs. Behind her back, Hermione sealed the basement door shut, before she set a jet of ice cold water at the door. In an instant, she used a freezing charm on it. While it was not as strong as Harry's would be due to his natural affinity to such magic because of his mystic abilities, it was still fairly decent.

"That should hold, right?" pleaded Ron hopefully, as he looked up nervously. Hermione lifted up the mirror, but a loud smashing sound echoed from outside the door, causing pieces of ice to fly everywhere, forcing Hermione to blast them away from them with her wand. Ron wisely stood back and allowed Hermione to fend off the ice attacks, as the door smashed off the hinges, with the monster mutant turtle thundering his way down the stairs.

"Unfortunately not," commented Hermione in a grim voice, as Don's mere footsteps caused the steps to crack beneath his feet, before Hermione raised her wand and levitated a stack of boxes in front of them, forming a barrier between the group. Quickly, Hermione removed the mirror from her pocket, looking at it. "Harry, Harry, it's me, Hermione, I need your help, there's a situation…"

Hermione trailed off, screaming in absolutely horror, as Don had smashed through the stack of boxes. Quickly, Hermione banished a table in the way of the rampaging beast that was once Donatello, as the mirror began to slowly cackle to life, giving Hermione a line of communication to her best friend.

Meanwhile, Harry was pinned down on the ground, a large crab mutant snapping its claws towards him. He looked on in despair as the others continued to battle on the other crab mutants. Quickly, with one hand, as he held off the claw of the opponent, Harry removed the mirror, seeing Hermione's frantic face on the other end, as he continued to frantically attempt to push off the attacks of the crab mutant enough to put it out.

"Okay, Hermione, I'm here, make it quick, I'm kind of busy here," breathed Harry as he just managed to push the mutant back into one that was fighting Raph and Hailey, causing both to crash to the ground, giving himself a little breathing room.

"Harry…attack…trouble…Don…Ron and I…trouble…monster," stammered Hermione in a horrified tone of voice, as the mirror suddenly flew out of her hand, as Harry lost visual, before he quickly sprung to his feet and used his tranquilizer gun to drill the crab mutant, causing it to drop to the ground.

"Guys, we need to wrap this up, there's a monster attack back at my house, Don, Hermione, and Ron are in trouble," said Harry and Ginny suddenly upped the attack, managing to knock a crab mutant back, allowing Harry to hit it with a double dose of paralyzing potion and the others, realizing what Harry had said, attempted to wrap this up, if a mutant had attacked the Potter Residence, it was a rather serious matter that needed to be attended to immediately.

At a lab deep in the heart of area fifty one, a group of men were huddled around an operating table, heavily at work on an obscured figure on the table. From the shadows, Bishop stood, with a calm, cool, and collected expression on his face, watching the process, as an electrical current flowed through the figure on the table. The group of surgeons backed off, revealing a thin robotic body, with limbs only large enough to support it. In a glass case on the top was a human brain, with one shut eyeball. Slowly, the eye opened, looking at Bishop with a slightly confused and befuddled expression etched within it, as Bishop just nodded calmly.

"Welcome back to the living," stated Bishop, before he paused and stepped closer to the robotic frame. "Doctor Stockman."

In the basement, Hermione and Ron were backed up against the wall, as Don advanced upon them. Unfortunately, Hermione had banished everything she could find at Don and it just only bought them this month time. The monstrous mutant turtle advanced on them, discolored yellow drool splashing from the ground, as it moved forward. Quickly, several footsteps echoed down, including a loud magically created blast, which stopped Don, as Raph, Leo, Mikey, Ginny, Hailey, and Harry lead the way, their eyes widened as they saw the beast, as it turned towards the wall, leading to the sewer, before it bashed its way through, creating an exit. It disappeared through the sewers, as the three Turtles moved forward, but Harry cleared his throat, causing them to spin around to face them.

"Hermione, where's Don?" asked Harry and Hermione, who seemed to unable to speak at the moment, pointed numbly down the tunnel and the entire group took a few seconds, before they registered what happened.

"That thing is Don, isn't it?" asked Leo and Hermione's nodded slowly, breathing heavily as she was slumped against the wall, absolutely mortified.

"Say what?" exclaimed Mikey. "You mean that that…but how…"

"I don't know, I really don't but we can't lose him, come on, let's go and be careful, we don't want to hurt him," said Harry.

"Harry, no offense, but I doubt very much you'll have a problem," stated Hermione, as she finally found her voice. "Be careful, he nearly tore up the entire house and if he gets out in the city…"

"I know, he seems to be larger and more vicious than the other mutants, something tells me we're going to need some help, some heavy muscle to deal with Don," commented Harry and Leo, catching Harry's meaning, nodded. "Ginny and I will take to the Battle Shell, to attempt to track Don from up there, while the rest of you hit the sewers."

The group all nodded in agreement, as they understood what needed to be done. With Don out of sight, there was hard telling where he could have gone. It was apparent that time was of the essence and they had little time to waste, if they wanted to properly track down Don, before it was too late.

Back in the lab, the robotic shell that housed the brain of one Baxter Stockman turned slightly, it's eyeball looking at Bishop in a state of confusion, registering what he had said and not quite grasping it straight away.

"Doctor Stockman?" slurred Stockman in a confused tone of voice and in an instant, it registered completely, as what remained of the once great scientist registered what happened, recalling that for the second time he had been deprived of a body but this time, he thought he had escaped his torment, at least until he found himself waking up in another crude robotic shell. His eyeball snapped up towards Bishop, completely focusing on him. "Why?"

"I had to send a group of commandos to retrieve the most valuable item that the Earth Protection Force has, your brilliant mind, after your unauthorized sabbatical to New York City. We managed to find you, digging through the wreckage of Stocktronics, recovering your mind and thanks to the alien technology that Oroku Saki has implanted in your cerebral cortex, I manage to bring you back to life by reactivating it," commented Bishop calmly, as he surveyed Stockman over his sunglasses. "While I can do without your personality, I do need your help and most importantly your brilliant mind, as the outbreak is getting worse every passing moment. I expect a solution soon. I need a solution, the fate of all humanity hinges on your ability to find a cure. That is why I brought you back, believe me, if I did not have a use for you, you would be left to rot, but right now, you are needed Stockman."

Stockman swung his legs off the operating table, before taking a few steps forward. Unfortunately his new robotic limbs only allowed for the simplest of movements and thus, his limbs collapsed from underneath him. The once great scientist found himself absolutely despondent at what his fate was.

"I thought it would be over, I thought it would end, but you just had to dig me up, just after I thought the agony, the misery, the pain, after losing my second body, I embraced the end, but you just couldn't let me die," said Stockman in anguish, as he looked at Bishop with his lone eyeball. "Why couldn't you let me rest in peace? Why? WHY?"

"To your feet Stockman, much work is to be done," ordered Bishop calmly and Stockman rose to his feet, walking forward slowly and carefully, the only thing this new crude robotic shell that Bishop shoved his brain in could afford to do. He suspected that Bishop, with all of his resources, could afford something better, but he did this to torture Stockman, blaming him for the outbreak.

In his subway lair, the large mutant crocodile known as Leatherhead was analyzing samples of blood found from the bandage that Don was wearing when the outbreak had first began three months ago. It was the hope that something could be gathered from that, as Hailey, Leo, Raph, and Mikey stood in the background, before Leatherhead turned towards them, to present his findings.

"Interesting, I am detecting similar mutated chromosomes that were present in the blood samples of the outbreak mutants, currently floating in Donatello's blood stream, it's had a reaction to the original Utrom Mutagen components, causing the mutation of Donatello into the savage and mindless beast that you saw, with no regard or recognition of anything around him," summarized Leatherhead, before the crocodile fixed the entire group with a puzzled stare. "The thing I'm curious about is how the outbreak mutagen could have been introduced into Donatello's blood stream in the first place."

The entire group shrugged, but a few seconds, something struck Leo as he recalled something, wondering exactly how they could have been so foolish not to pick on this.

"I know, when we were fighting the roach mutants when the outbreak first started, when Don suffered his injury, one of the roaches cut him," remarked Leo and the others nodded as they slowly recalled it. "Through that cut, some of the DNA from the roach must of scrapped off and ended up in Don's system."

"There's more isn't there?" asked Hailey logically and Leatherhead nodded gravely in response.

"If these samples are anything to judge by, Donatello's cellular structure is breaking down at an accelerated rate, he has mere days, at most," said Leatherhead. "Without treatment, Donatello with perish."

"No, you were working on an antidote, can't something be done for him?" asked Raph, almost pleading.

"I'm afraid not, the antidotes are several weeks away from being perfected, at the very minimum and Donatello only has days," said Leatherhead, and Raph angrily smashed his Sais into the wall, leaving two dents in there. Hopefully Mikey and Leo turned to Hailey, hoping that she could tell them about something that Harry, Lily, and Hermione might have found in their magical research that would help.

"No, like Leatherhead, it's a long time before we can find a cure, even with the most advanced magical texts, nothing like this has been treated, with is more advanced than vampirism and lycanthropy," said Hailey grimly.

"Still, we can find Don and perhaps hope that something will break, before….before…" stated Mikey but he could not bring himself to say it and Leo put his hand on his younger brother's shoulder.

"We'll find a way, until the end, which I hope we'll never see," said Leo quietly, before he leaned over towards the mirror. "Got all that Harry?"

There was an extremely lengthy pause before Harry responded.

"Yes," responded Harry in an emotionless tone of voice.

"Any luck on finding Don yet?" asked Leo hopefully.

"No, we're looking, we have the tracker on, but..." stated Harry before he paused, as he saw a blip on the tracker in the Battle Shell, the same tracker that Don build to track pockets of the outbreak, but now was being used to track him down. "Yes, I have something, it has to be Don, because if there was anything else near, it would have been picked up by now."

"Great Harry, where's he heading?" inquired Leo and Harry paused, as he got a fix on the coordinates of the tracking devices, before he responded to Leo's inquiry.

"Straight for the lair, so perhaps there is a part of him that is still humane, deep within the monster, but his mutation might lead to sinister reasons, so I'm going to warn Master Splinter to be on his guard when I finish speaking to you," remarked Harry. "However, I suspect it will be easy to lure him into a trap to contain him giving his current degrading intelligence, providing of course you can find something that can stick."

"I think I might have something that could be of service on that front," commented Leatherhead as the mutant crocodile walked over, before he pulled a tarp off of a large glass tank, with several valves inside. "Donatello and I built this containment unit, so we could hold one of the outbreak mutants for a time, in fact, it was just completed days ago. The intention was that perhaps closer study of a subject would give us a cure, but I had never imagined having to use it on Donatello."

"I don't think none of us have, but come on, there's a shortcut through the next sewer tunnel, past an abandoned mine shaft, perhaps we can cut off Don before he reaches the lair," said Leo and the others nodded, before they set out to reach Don, with his Leatherhead trailing them, carrying the containment unit over his shoulder.

They reached the cavernous tunnels and heard footsteps from the distance, that put them all on their guard. A pause and they wondered if it was Don or if something else had found its way down here.

"Uh hello, big ugly monster version of Donatello, come out and play," said Mikey in a shaky voice and a thunderous smash was heard, as the mutated large hulking turtle beast burst its way through, its eyes narrowed at the group.

"Think he recognizes us?" asked Raph and at that moment, Don answered that question, by smashing Raph with his hand, causing him to slam shell first against the wall, before the large mutant sprung forward.

"I'm taking that as a definite no," commented Hailey, as she just barely avoided having her skull crushed by falling rocks that Don had loosened by smashing his way through.

"Try and hold him off while Leatherhead sets up the containment unit!" yelled Leo and Raph and Mikey sprung up from either end, grabbing Don's arms. The turtle beast growled loudly, swinging its arms and smashing the turtles against the wall, throwing them off. Leo rushed forward, swiping his katana at his mutated brother, careful not to slash him, but also backing him off. Needless to say, Don just responded by grabbing a katana in each hand and hoisting them up the ground. Leo found himself being sent halfway across the tunnel.

"This should cool him down," muttered Hailey, as she loaded up the tranquilizer gun and shot a dart right towards Don. Don gave an angry grunt, before he smashed forward. The paralyzing potion did not slow him down, rather it seemed to anger him, giving him an incentive to move forward towards Hailey, knocking the other three Turtles to the side savagely, as he advanced forward, growling madly.

At that second, a jet of red light flew down the pathway, impacting Don right in the eyes. Don staggered backwards, growling in agony, as he shielded his eyes, in anguish, as Harry and Ginny made their way down the tunnel.

"Now Don, come this way, that's it," commented Harry and the beast that was Don moved forward, as he slowly regained use of his eyes. Quickly, Harry backed down the tunnel, towards the end. "That's it, just a little bit further…NOW LEATHERHEAD!"

The large mutant croc sprung into action, jumping in front of Don, grabbing the hulking turtle beast around the head. Don attempted to struggle, grabbing Leatherhead by the wrist, attempting to snap it, but to his credit, the croc's grip remained firm, as it swung Don over towards the open containment unit. Don flew inside and before the hulking mutant could respond, Leatherhead sealed the containment unit shut. Quickly, Leatherhead activated the valve, filling the containment unit with paralyzing gas. Don gave one more futile growl, before the monstrous mutant collapsed to the ground.

Moments later in the lair, the group, now joined by Master Splinter, watched as Don came back to his senses. The turtle was angered at his contained predicament and began to bang on the glass with its large hands. Thankfully, Harry had foreseen this outcome and thus reinforced the glass with an unbreakable charm. No matter how many times Don slammed against the glass, he remained contained, until a cure could be found, if it could be found.

"My son," said Master Splinter in despair, as he saw the despair that his second oldest son was in.

"Don't worry, a cure will be found, we just have to work around the clock, looking at every angle, but a breakthrough will be found and Don will be back to normal," said Harry in a confident voice, as Ginny grabbed his hand for support, as she knew exactly how much Harry was blaming himself for the inability to find a cure to this outbreak.

"We will find a cure, we have to," concluded Leo, as they remained in the lair, with Don's pained and angry growls filling their ears, as the glass separated him from the outside world, for his safety and indeed the safety of others.


	22. Chapter 22: Good Genes Part II

**Chapter Twenty Two: Good Genes Part Two:**

Back in the lab in Area 51, the robotic shell containing the brain of Baxter Stockman took a few tentative steps forward, surrounded by test tubes along with a captured specimen, the giant roach mutant that gave an impression that the human being sticking out of its head. Stockman sat himself down, going over all the notes he had on failed figures of components, he had come close on several instances, but nothing close enough that would even reverse the mutations. At this point, Stockman doubted very much that a cure could be formulated at all, but with Bishop breathing down his neck every second, Stockman found himself pressured to work to the very end. Sure enough, at that moment, Bishop walked up, peering at Stockman, an impatient look appearing on the shady government agent's face as he turned to Stockman.

"Stockman, need I remind you that even more cases of the outbreak are coming in from New York, my men are pushed to their utter limits to even partially contain it, so a cure needs to formulated soon," said Bishop. "Let us not forget that it was your genetic miscalculation and careless disposal of the fake alien waste that kick started this outbreak in the first place, so you have to formulate a solution now, as this outbreak is keeping me away from my work."

"Your work! As you should know by now, the outbreak is an unintended side effect of the alien accelerates, it was impossible to predict, the odds of finding the correct variables and isolating them to completely establish a cure will take time, several more days perhaps even weeks, worst case scenario months, perhaps never," commented Stockman, as he tested another chemical component against infected blood cells but it was no good.

"Time is luxury we do not have any longer Stockman, you will work until a cure is found, no breaks," said Bishop coldly and at that moment, another government agent walked in, looking rather befuddled as he approached his agent. "Yes."

"Sir, we're having an unexpected communication, I've never seen anything like it before, it's coming in through our dedicated frequencies," explained the agent and Bishop looked at his fellow agent over his sunglasses, with slight interest. "They want to talk to you."

"Patch me through, I'll be in the communications room in about a minute," said Bishop shortly and the agent nodded, before Bishop walked forward through two hallways, before he walked across into a third room that resembled a large silvery dome. Stepping forward, Bishop looked up toward the ceiling. "Open secure channels, authorization code, Bishop Three Omega."

At that time, a communication link opened, revealing a spectral form of a medium sized faceless figure, cloaked in grey robes, its blacken face looking at Bishop.

"Welcome Agent Bishop, I've been wishing to speak to you for quite some time," commented the figure but Bishop looked at it with distrust.

"How did you get this frequency?" demanded Bishop.

"We have our ways of getting this frequency and also have the means to assist you with your crusade," answered the spectral figure mysteriously. "Yes, we know about your mission John Bishop, how you search the skies every night, searching for your little green men."

"Little grey men actually," corrected Bishop, as he looked at the faceless figure. "I fail to understand what exactly you have to do with my life's work."

"What if I were to tell you that the answer to all your problems is right here on Earth?" suggested the faceless figure and Bishop looked up with interest. "Right here on this planet, there's an ancient gemstone containing secrets of hundreds upon hundreds of alien races, etched within it, that will give you unbelievable power to create means to dispense with any threats that come your way."

"Very well, than give it to me," said Bishop shortly but the faceless figure just paused, before leaning forward as far as possible towards Bishop.

"That it is impossible, but I can give you information where it is located," commented the figure and Bishop remained quiet, awaiting the information. "As a matter of fact, I am under the assumption you are quite familiar with the organization who holds this powerful artifact, they call themselves the Foot."

Back in the lair, Harry was over in the side of the head, working with a sample of infected outbreak blood, using a duplication charm whenever necessary, going through several modifications through several potions that dealt with side effects of being injured by dangerous magical creatures. It was hoped that something would offer a clue on how to formulate a cure, but so far, absolutely nothing, despite all of the variables. He watched as Leatherhead was also feverishly working on a cure through Muggle methods. Hopefully, Harry picked up the mirror, it had been a few hours and he checked in with his mother, who had been also attempting to work against the clock to find a cure.

"Mum, anything," said Harry in a tired voice.

"Sorry Harry, I thought I had something for a minute, but while it did partially cure the outbreak mutation, however it also completely killed all the living cells in the blood as a result," commented Lily. "I'm beginning to think this is one problem that magic can't solve, but I keep working to the very end."

"Okay, thanks Mum," said Harry in a tired, resigned voice, as he turned over, no matter how tired he felt, he had to keep up, his brother's life hung in the balance.

"Harry, I think it would be a good idea if you get some sleep, I mean you look terrible," commented Ginny, as she returned to the lair with Hailey, the two girls having left to get some sleep and returned shortly.

"Can't, important, cure, Don" said Harry in a tired voice, as he wiped sweat from his forehead as he looked forward, before he flipped through the Potions Book, from a large stack that he had, trying to see if he could find something that he might have overlooked the first time through. Unfortunately, he was running out of options, other than his really advanced Potions text that were located in the Slytherin library at Hogwarts that might have held a hint to anything that can help Harry formulate a cure to help with his ailing brother's predicament.

On the other side of the lair, Leo looked out in the distance, sighing as he stood, deep in thought. He heard Master Splinter walk over to him, deep in thought, before the wizened rat spoke.

"You seem rather troubled, Leonardo," said Master Splinter and Leo paused, before he turned to his sensei, unable to completely articulate what he wanted to say, but nevertheless attempted to do his best to do so.

"It's just that, when finding this cure, I keep turning to Don, to ask for his opinion but then I remember, he's the one that we are helping and thus he will be unable to help us, I've never felt so helpless in my entire life," said Leo and Master Splinter nodded knowingly, as he looked forward, seeing Leatherhead continue to work on the cure.

"I too wish to speak with Donatello, as he did do most of the work on the project to find a cure for this plague, and while his notes have given me hints on what he has found, only a certain amount of insight can be gathered from them," said Leatherhead with a sigh as he looked on. "Unfortunately, his condition only worsens by the moment, in his case is a bit different than the others due to the Utrom mutagen lingering in his blood stream, as he loses a bit more of his humanity by the passing it, it will only be a matter of time before the disease becomes permanent and then…

Leatherhead's words were left hanging and there was really not any need for the large mutant crocodile to finish his statement, but Splinter looked towards Leatherhead.

"Now, remember, since Agent Bishop created the outbreak in the first place, perhaps he has access to the means to create a cure," remarked Master Splinter. "It is not an avenue that I wish to go down granted, but at this point, time is running out for Donatello and thus a drastic solution may be needed to solve this problem."

Mikey began putting the finishing touches on a plate of food to take to Don, who was getting rather irritated so perhaps the newly deformed mutant would require food to pacify him. Quickly, Mikey moved forward, before he slid open a panel on the side, that allowed him to slip the food inside the door. Don looked at Mikey with an ill tempered look.

"Look Don it's your favorite when you…" stated Mikey, but Don looked to be not interested in all in eating the food, but rather he grabbed a hold of Mikey's ankle. Mikey gave a surprised scream, as Don attempted to pull Mikey's leg off, viciously yanking at it, while snapping at it.

"Hang on Mikey!" shouted Raph in a panicked voice, as he rushed over, to grab his brother by the arms, but Don refused to let go, as discolored yellow drool dripped from the ground. Leo, Leatherhead, Master Splinter, Harry, Ginny, and Hailey all rushed other as well, with Leo, Harry, Ginny, and Hailey attempting to help Raph in prying Mikey's leg loose from Don's grasp.

"Donatello, listen to my son, this is Master Splinter, your sensei, your father, you do not wish to harm your brother," said Splinter calmly, as he looked at Don, a pleading look in the old rat's eyes. "Resist this impulse to hurt, let him go, do not give into the monster that has been created in you…"

Something that Splinter said had barely registered in Don's degrading mind, as the beast managed to loosen his grip on his brother's leg, allowing Raph, Leo, Harry, Hailey, and Ginny to yank Mikey to safety as Leatherhead cranked a valve on the containment unit. At that instant, tranquilizer gas began to pump inside, but it did not drop Don how it had previously, rather banging on the glass, causing it to rattle. It took almost two full minutes before Don backed off, slumping against the side, but still offering some feeble growls of resistance.

"He is becoming resistant to the gas, I will have to work on stronger tranquilizers," said Leatherhead as he watched as Don was only partially put out due to the heavy dose of gas. "Time is running out."

"Yes, it is, Bishop is the only choice, we'll have to hope we can find some way to get him to help Don," said Harry, who seemed rather irritated about the whole idea of his brother's life hinging on one of Harry's most dangerous enemies. "Find him, and we find the cure, but he could be anywhere…"

"I can help there, I know where Bishop's main research facility is, remember he held me there for several months, now sounds like as good of a time as any to gain revenge," growled Leatherhead, the croc remembering the tortures he had at the hands of Agent Bishop. "The only problem is Bishop's headquarters are on the other side of the country, in Nevada, so it will take some time to get there, time that Donatello may not have."

"Actually not that hard at all to get there within an hour or so, all we need is some super speedy transformation and I think Don will be able to help us on that front," commented Leo and the others crowded around, as Leo lead the way from the lair, towards another tunnel that lead to a launching pad, with the modified helicopter that Stockman brought to the city during his ill fated attempt to transfer his mind into Harry's body. "This is the last thing that Don was working on…before…well you know, it's a launch pad that will allow us to fly this helicopter from the seat, straight to Bishop's lab in little time."

"Perfect, all we need to do is load on Don and we'll make Bishop give us the cure," said Raph, as he cracked his knuckles menacingly, as Leatherhead walked off, to retrieve the containment unit and than it was off to track down Bishop. Time was in fact running out quickly.

Meanwhile, in the Foot Headquarters, the five mystic Foot Ninjas stood in a temple, as the doors smashed open, revealing Karai, dressed in full Shredder armor, before she stared down the mystics.

"Mystics, I have need of your services, Harry Potter must be destroyed now, I am your Master and you will obliterate him, he has been allowed to live for way too long," ordered Karai, as she held up her Shredder gauntlets, but the Mystics just responded by high cold laughter, nearly mocking Karai for her very existence, before they looked down at the one who currently wore the armor of the Shredder with distaste.

"Our Master is the Shredder, not you little girl," taunted the water mystic coldly.

"You are nothing but a pretender, much like the Utrom abomination that wore that armor before you," added the fire mystic. "You are a disgrace to the legacy of the Shredder and you will pay for your insolence by continuing to pass yourself off as the genuine article."

"You forget your place, mystics, I am the daughter of Oroku Saki, I am the Shredder, and your so called talk of ancient power does little to impress me. In fact, I can control what power you have as I see fit," responded Karai as she raised her gauntlet once again, as she glared at the mystics through her helmet. "Now, find Harry Potter, his crimes will be punished, track him down and make him pay for my father's death with his life. Do you hear me? Find him!"

Karai stormed off in a huff, but the Foot Mystics did not flinch at her threats and in fact looked at her retreating back with absolute irritation at having to put up being forced to work with someone that obviously did not have any respect for whatsoever.

"Perhaps Harry Potter will be the one that finds you," remarked the metal foot mystic cryptically when Karai was long gone.

A short time later, the packed helicopter was flying through the sky at high speeds towards Bishop's base, as Harry, who was piloting the craft, turned over his shoulder to the others.

"Here we are Groom Lake in Nevada, Bishop's base should be somewhere close by," commented Harry but at the news of where they were, Mikey became all panicky, as he realized where they were.

"Wait a minute, Groom Lake, as in Area Fifty One!" shrieked Mikey in a panicked tone of voice but Raph thumped Mikey on the back of the shell to come him down.

"Take it easy, Mikey," commented Raph in a warning voice.

"This can't be right, no this can't be Bishop's base, maybe we took a wrong turn, at Albuquerque?" suggested Mikey feebly, but the hope not all that strong.

"This is Bishop's base, I know it anywhere," commented Leatherhead in a confident voice, as the helicopter touched down right outside the gate, as Leo turned to the group.

"Master Splinter and Leatherhead can stay and keep an eye on Don, the rest of us can go inside to the main lab and track down Bishop, but remember be careful," warned Leo with a word of caution, as Raph, Mikey, Hailey, Harry, and Ginny followed Leo carefully. "This is special ops territory, Bishop's turf, be ready for anything."

"I'm telling you right now, this Area Fifty One is UFO central, the nexus of weirdness," muttered Mikey, but Raph turned to him with a grin.

"Then you'd fit right in," commented Raph, as the group scaled over the fences, before they walked forward towards the main lab, careful not to trip up any traps as they moved forward.

"It's too quiet for my liking really," muttered Hailey, as she looked around. "Plus, it almost feels like someone's watching us."

"Well if you've heard the outlandish theories about this place…" stated Harry but Mikey had cut him off.

"Well, there could very well be a UFO watching us from the sky for all we know, I'm telling you, this place is bad news, aliens check in, but they don't check out," said Mikey nervously, as he watched Leo and Raph pry open a door, wisely not allowing Harry, Ginny, or Hailey to use magic, as it would most certainly tip off Bishop that someone was here, as Raph and Leo managed to get the door open, allowing them to enter, walking into a cavernous hanger bay, as they walked forward, before they heard footsteps, before lights came on, shining on the group.

"Great, they spotted us," grumbled Raph.

"The question is what spotted us?" asked Mikey.

"And more importantly, exactly how could they have found out we gotten here so soon?" asked Ginny as the footsteps grew louder.

"The fact that you used a helicopter that belongs to me, coupled with the fact that I have a tracking device implemented into each copter that tells me when it both leaves and arrives tipped me off to your arrival," commented the cool voice of Agent Bishop as he stepped forward, looking at the group over his sunglasses.

"Bishop," said Harry calmly, as the others just looked at the shady government agent with absolute distrust and at that instant, a thin, robotic shell made its way forward, its lone eyeball fixed upon the group.

"Great, look who decided to show up," said Stockman and Harry was caught off guard for a few seconds, but not completely surprised as Stockman had managed to cheat death many times before.

"Stockman, I had hoped you would have died the last time we met," commented Harry coolly.

"Believe me Potter, that makes two of us," remarked Stockman in a slightly depressed tone of voice. "But Agent Bishop would not let me expire and thus, I'm here, imprisoned in this robotic form, forced to slave away…"

"Stockman, enough," warned Bishop. "I suspect this is not a social visit, so why are you here?"

"As much as it pains us to admit this, we need your help, the outbreak has spread to uncontrollable levels," started Leo, but Bishop raised his hand calmly.

"I assure you that I am more than aware of the outbreak and I am taking all the necessary steps to neutralize at as we speak," remarked Bishop.

"It's not just that, it's that Don, he's really sick, he's been infected by the plague, he's getting worse, and we need help to cure him, before it's too late, he's been transferred into a mindless, savage beast" said Leo desperately and Stockman began to laugh, obviously rather amused at Don's current predicament.

"Well, isn't that ironic, so much for the smart one," commented Stockman snidely and this prompted Raph, Hailey, Harry, and Ginny to take steps forwards towards Stockman, but Leo and Mikey stepped in front of them, blocking their attempts to get at what remained of the once great Baxter Stockman.

"Pay Stockman no mind, he's just obviously attempting to bait you because of his current situation," remarked Bishop casually. "Still perhaps we can be of help to each other after all."

"What do you mean?" asked Harry in a distrustful voice, as he looked at Bishop, the time that Bishop attempted to dissect his brothers and subjected him to an experiment that duplicated magic was fresh in his mind, not to mention Bishop's staged alien invasion to get more funding from the President for the Earth Protection Force.

"I mean that I can cure your brother, but for a price," stated Bishop calmly. "However, first, I will need to see your brother to get a clue on how feasible this is, so I would suggest you go retrieve him and we'll work out a deal."

Leo nodded in response, as they group moved off, with Bishop signaling for some commandos to follow them from the shadows. Harry turned to Leo, before speaking to his oldest brother in an undertone.

"Okay, do you really think we can trust Bishop, at all?" asked Harry in a hushed voice and Leo shook his head.

"No, but what choice do we have, Don's life hangs in the balance," said Leo calmly, as they reached the helicopter, before Leo called out to Leatherhead and Master Splinter, who was waiting in the distance. "Bishop said he'd take a look at Don, we need to get him to the lab right now so he can take a better look."

Splinter nodded, as Leatherhead hoisted the containment unit containing Don, who was still offering a form of resistance, as they made their way over to the lab, where the commandos lead the way through towards the main lab, as Leatherhead set down the containment unit with a grunt, before turning to the group.

"He will need to be moved to better facilities before we can properly look at his genetic structure," commented Stockman in a bored tone of voice as he looked up and down at the containment unit. "Where did you find this containment unit anyway, a junkyard?"

Leatherhead growled in disgust, but Stockman slowly moved over, with a group of commandos, as he pressed a button on the side of the containment unit, dropping it, while a force field was erected, leading Don from the containment unit to the state of the art facilities in the lab. The commandos roughly poked Don in the side with cattle prods, pushing the horrendously mutant turtle forwards, giving him slight shocks as he moved forward, the turtle growling with each shock, and seeming to get more irritated with each shock.

"I'm not sure if this is a good idea," commented Hailey in a worried voice, as she watched as Don got more and more angry with each passing second.

"I know what I'm doing," said Stockman in an arrogant tone of voice, but one final shock had caused Don to smash into the force field. While the mutant did not bring it down, the rattle did knock the Earth Protection Force commandos on their back. Don moved forward, and grabbed the controls to the force field before reaching forward and ripping them from the console. The wall was dropped, and Don stormed forward, growling madly, as he knocked several commandos down, dropping them like dominos. The robot containing the remains of Stockman was grabbed and slammed down to the ground. Stockman gave a scream as the commandos rushed forward, shooting their laser blasters at Don, which caused the others to turn to Bishop.

"Are your commandos crazy, if Don gets hit, he will be taken out, splattered open?" asked Harry, as he moved forward, before Hailey and Ginny helped him use levitating charms to pull the laser blasters of the commandos out of their hands, leaving them open to be plowed straight to the ground by Don, as the turtle began tearing up the lab.

"This is Bishop, send a second squadron in here, lethal force is authorized…" stated Bishop.

"NO!" shouted Raph in an angry voice., advancing on Bishop, weapons drawn "You no good, rotten son of a…"

"If your brother cannot be contained, he will be put down," said Bishop, as he removed his coat, revealing his battle suit, containing miniature missile wrist blasters, that he pointed at Don, as the second group of commandos moved in. Leatherhead stepped in and grabbed Bishop by the arm, crushing the missiles, before pulling up the government agent, snarling viciously in his face.

"If anyone will deal with Donatello, it will be me and not you," growled Leatherhead, as he eyes narrowed, before he threw Bishop to the ground, and Leatherhead rushed forward, before he knocked Don back with a large punch as Leo turned to Bishop.

"Look, just give us five minutes to get Don under control before you take distract action," pleaded Leo, as he looked at Bishop, but Bishop looked rather cold to their plight.

"You have two," supplied Bishop coldly as Leatherhead and Don battled, Don violently rushing Leatherhead, but the croc moved out of the way, before he punched Don, knocking him backwards, before grabbing Don around the head, attempting to hold him in place, despite Don's struggles, the large mutant violently thrashing, as Leatherhead looked up towards Leo.

"Leonardo, get the tranquilizer gun, now," grunted Leatherhead and Leo promptly did as he told, as Don flipped Leatherhead to the ground, before he leapt up, but Leatherhead rolled out of the way. The large mutant croc swung his tail, but Don caught it, before he twisted around Leatherhead's tail and slammed Leatherhead to the ground, before Don backed off and knocked Leatherhead to the ground. Leatherhead pulled himself to his feet and Don hoisted Leatherhead up over his head, before he launched him up to another area of the lab slightly upwards.

The large mutant croc crashed with a loud thud, and Leatherhead pulled himself up, before he saw a miniature buzz saw, as memories of this very area of the lab began flowing back towards the croc's brain.

"No, not this place again, no!" growled Leatherhead, as his eyes widened, as flashes of the croc being on an operating table, with a large saw and other dissection tools come down towards him, with a smug looking Agent Bishop watching, as they worked on Leatherhead, in an attempt unlock the secrets of his mutation. Memory after memory replayed in Leatherhead's head, as he was forced to relive these rather traumatic experiences.

Don sprung up, raising his hands up in the air, before he pulled Leatherhead up by the head and flung him viciously into an operating table. Don tipped over the operating table, with Leatherhead on it, causing it to crash to the ground with a large impact. With a primal growl, Don raised his hands into the air, but Master Splinter pulled himself up, raising his hand up.

"Listen to your sensei Donatello, you need to use your inner strength and fight off these impulses, you are not a monster, you need to find a way to fight this off," said Splinter in a soothing voice in an attempt to pacify his degenerating son once again but Don took a step forward, growling, before a loud bang echoed, as Don was wrapped in thick cords, trapped, as Harry climbed up, before pulling Master Splinter out reach, before Don could recover from the attack.

"Something tells me that won't work again, sorry Master Splinter," said Harry, as his sensei climbed down, as Don broke from his containment, before he stepped forward towards Harry, who stood his ground, as Don raised his hands up into the air. Harry prepared himself for a fight with Don, but at that moment, Don was impacted right in the back with a tranquilizer dart. Don turned around to see the source, growling and stepping forward to enrage his newest threat in battle.

"I'm really sorry about this," said Leo calmly as he moved forward, shooting his brother with dart after dart, impacting him with several doses of paralyzing potion, Don's knees buckling more with each dose, but he moved forward, with Leo forcing to load the tranquilizer dart with several more darts. Finally, after about twelve doses of the potion, Don collapsed to the ground, unable to move any longer, as Harry climbed down, to allow the commandos to hoist Don over, before they moved him towards the containment tank, as Stockman began to pull himself together, so he could study the mutated subject in further detail.

Several minutes later, Don was submerged in a stasis chamber, with Bishop looking over Stockman's shoulder, as Stockman studied a full report on Don's cellar structure with scientific interest, before he turned around to give the group his report on what he found.

"Very interesting, it appears with the introduction of the outbreak accelerants in his blood stream, Donatello's cell structure is degenerating at an accelerating rate, he only has mere hours left," commented Stockman calmly, before he added snidely, as he turned to Leatherhead, looking at the croc through his eyeball. "The animal was right."

Leatherhead just responded with a loud snarl, before he turned towards Leo.

"Leonardo, this is wrong, we cannot leave Donatello's fate to these devils, Stockman especially cannot be trusted and as for him…" stated Leatherhead as he turned to Bishop, who calmly looked back, not bothered back the fact that a large mutant crocodile was quite enraged him. "If you had any idea what he was capable of, it would sicken you."

"Leatherhead's right Leo, Bishop's the enemy," said Raph.

"Not to mention that if it wasn't for Bishop, we wouldn't have this outbreak problem in the first place," added Harry in a logical voice tone of voice, as the entire group turned their back on Stockman, to focus on Bishop, who took a deep breath, before he partially explained the entire situation to them.

"Stockman created the alien accelerants on my orders," explained Bishop calmly. "What you call the outbreak is an unintended and unexpected side effect of one of my projects."

"Still you say you can cure Don, right?" asked Leo and behind their backs, Stockman shook his robotic head from side to side, as he was still quite some time away from establishing the cure, but this gesture from Stockman went rather unnoticed by the others.

"Yes," replied Bishop shortly. "However, for the cure, I need you to retrieve something for me."

"What is it?" asked Harry calmly, not taking his eyes off of Bishop for one second.

"It's quite a simple errand really, I require a relic that will proved to be invaluable to my research, in fact, it's located right in New York and I believe you may also be very familiar with the person who currently holds onto it," remarked Bishop as he paused, as the group waited for the final piece of information. "Her name is Karai."


	23. Chapter 23: Good Genes Part III

**Chapter Twenty Three: Good Genes Part Three:**

Back in the lab in Area Fifty One, Bishop walked forward, making his way towards the communications room, after Leo, Raph, Mikey, Hailey, Harry, and Ginny had already set off back to New York to go after the artifact currently in the possession of the Foot. Bishop already planned an escape plan, on the off chance that Donatello could not be cured before it was too late, but at this moment, he needed to get in touch with his mysterious contact. Sure enough, as Bishop stepped forward, as almost by magic, the faceless cloak wearing figure appeared in front of Bishop. If he had eyes, Bishop suspected they would be fixed upon him right now.

"Well," commented the faceless figure in a calm, emotionless tone of voice. "What arrangements have you made to retrieve the artifact?"

"I have sent individuals that are more than familiar with how the Foot operates to pick it up, but it had better be worth the time and resources that I'm going to use to unlock the sequences," said Bishop, as he looked forward at his contact but the contact did not give the slightest indication that he was bothered by what Bishop had thought.

"Oh believe me Agent Bishop, that amulet has more power than you can ever imagine," commented the faceless contact mysteriously. "Do keep us posted when you have the amulet in your possession. Transmission concluded."

Bishop's contact disappeared from view, as the government agent turned, before he walked off. The amulet would be in his grasp soon and with it, power to protect the earth from alien menaces that plagued the entire universe.

Stockman moved over, looking over the roach mutant, as he wondered what he had did wrong. His last attempt had worked better on the infected mutant cells, but did not offer a full cure. At that moment, Master Splinter and Leatherhead, who had both stayed behind to ensure that Stockman and Bishop did not try something unethical. Splinter leaned on his walking stick, before he turned to address Stockman.

"Doctor Stockman, Agent Bishop has told us you would have a cure for Donatello," said Master Splinter as he surveyed what remained of the former scientist calmly.

"To think, my intelligence is squandered by this tripe, having to save one of those infernal Turtles, disgusting," commented Stockman snidely, as he turned his back slightly on Splinter, but at that point, Leatherhead had walked over, gripping Stockman roughly by the shoulder and spinning the robotic frame of the mad scientist around so they were face to face.

"The cure Stockman," said Leatherhead in a warning voice but Stockman just responded with a cold, heartless round of laughter, before he fixed his eyeball right on the mutant crocodile.

"You stupid animal, Agent Bishop lied to you, there is no cure," said Stockman.

"What!" demanded Splinter and this news had set Leatherhead off, as he ripped Stockman's robotic frame off the ground, holding Stockman in the air, growling madly, as Stockman struggled against the titanic grip of the mutant croc, as time seemed to slow down for the mad scientist.

A group of figures moved their way through the sewers, where a vent was right above them. Harry looked over his shoulder, as Raph, Mikey, and Leo followed closely behind them, each checking every few steps to make sure that they did not trip up any security alarms. At that instant, Harry used _Alohomora _to open the grate, as intense heat poured out from above. Wiping sweat from his forehead, Harry removed his mirror from his pocket, before he checked with Ginny and Hailey who were on the other side of the city, approaching a power plant.

"The Foot owns that place, so their entire building is powered by it, shut down the power and we should be able to get through," commented Harry in a quiet voice. "Are you in position?"

Hailey and Ginny stepped from the shadows, before Ginny raised her walk and knocked a sleepy looking security guard out with a stunner. The guard thumped to the ground, and the two pulled him into the bushes, out of sight, before Ginny raised her mirror to report her activities to Harry.

"Inside, now what?" asked Ginny and Harry paused, as he pulled himself up, before he looked up, he was almost inside the furnace of the building, which was the easiest way to get to the elevator shaft that would lead them up to the room where Bishop had said the artifact was. Unfortunately, the entrance was protected by a grid of lasers that would slice anything that it touched into ribbons and from the looks of things, they could block magic. With the controls on the other side, they would have to shut down the entire power to all of the building.

"Main computer lab is a corridor down, I'll walk you threw this Ginny, but we need this done as quickly as possible," said Harry as he pulled himself up, with Leo, Raph, and then Mikey all following, as the furnace seemed to heat up and Ginny nodded from the other side of the mirror. "Okay, you should be inside the main security program, the access code I managed to dig up is C425Q5"

Mikey staggered back, the intense heat starting to get to him, as he staggered backwards, before he activated the switch on the wall. The floor started to slid back underneath them, as it appeared Mikey had inadvertently activated a conveyor belt. The group attempted to rush forward, to avoid being dragged in the furnace.

"Harry, problem, the code you gave me, is not working," said Ginny frantically. "What should I do?"

"Anything you can think of Ginny, because in two minutes, we're going to be barbequed to a crisp, as we're heading straight towards the furnace, not that being barbequed any other way looks all that attractive either," stated Harry, as they attempted to hang onto the wall to slow their descent, but they could not grip onto it enough, as they began to edge closer to the furnace.

Back in the power plant, Ginny looked at the computer, frantically slamming on the keyboard. She was out of her element right now and she looked in despair, as she saw the entire group. Finally, she lost her patience with the infernal Muggle contraption, and blasted it to bits with a high powered Reducto. The computer, along with every one in the building and some windows, blew to absolutely bits, causing the power to be knocked out not only in the Foot Headquarters but in most of the city.

"That worked out pretty nicely, all things considered," remarked Hailey.

Back in the Furnace, the conveyor belt beneath their fit had skidded to a stop, before the group breathed a sigh of relief, as the laser grid had been knocked out by the power outrage. Quickly, before any auxiliary power could be put back on, Harry, Leo, Raph, and Mikey moved forward, through the grid and towards the elevator shaft. Once again, it was rather clear that time was running out and it would not be long before the Foot was combing the building for any intruders.

Inside the throne room at the top of the Foot Headquarters, Karai dressed in Shredder armor, without the helmet, looks up as a duo of her subordinates moved forward, before they bowed down before the new Shredder.

"Mistress Karai, the power has been put out in the building but we have auxiliary power online," said the Foot Ninja. "Security cameras have picked up at least four intruders making their way through the elevator shaft right behind the furnace. We have reason to believe that it has been deactivated for someone to slip inside the building through that venue."

"You have good reason to suspect that, because I sense it in the air, they are here, the Turtles and Harry Potter, but I do wonder what reason they would have for coming here," pondered Karai in confusion, their arrival on this night was rather peculiar, but she shook her head to properly focus on the task at hand. "It matters little, they have just stepped into their dooms. I wish to have them hunted down and executed for their crimes against the Foot."

"As you wish, Mistress Karai," agreed the Foot Ninja, before he walked off to put together a full team, if those particular individuals had entered the building, it was a distinct security threat that needed to be dealt with at all costs. The Turtles had in fact breached security before and did untold damage to the Foot, so it was likely they would do so again. The only difference was this time they were ready.

In the lab, Leatherhead swung Stockman around, smashing the robotic frame against the wall, baring his teeth at the mad scientist, eyes widened in absolute anger and snarling at Stockman, who cowered against the wall.

"You heartless soulless monster, how dare you take such amusement from the discomfort of others?" demanded Leatherhead as he snarled at Stockman, the thin metal limbs on his body quivering.

"Do it, kill me, you stupid animal, put me out of my misery, end it now, I don't care, but Donatello will also meet his end if you do it," said Stockman and Leatherhead growled, as he raised his fist into the air, but Master Splinter grabbed his arm to stop the croc from ripping Stockman apart piece by piece.

"Leatherhead, please calm down," pleaded Master Splinter, as the croc still snarled at Stockman, but resisted his grip slightly. "I share your anger, but we should be looking towards solutions and not vengeance, if we hope Donatello is to be cured."

"You'd be wise to listen to your friend animal," commented Bishop as Leatherhead dropped Stockman to the floor, the large reptile's eyes narrowing, as he recalled all the tortures that he underwent during his months in captivity at the hands of Agent Bishop, before he took a few steps forward, growling as he raised his hands. Bishop did not blink, as he stood there, allowing Leatherhead to advance on him.

"You, I've been waiting a long time to get my revenge on you, to rip you limb from limb, to make you realize what it's like to feel pain, make you pay for everything you've ever done," growled Leatherhead, as he raised his clawed hands but Bishop just did not even blink.

"Do what you feel you must, beast, but do know this, that Stockman is the only chance that Donatello has right now of being cured of his disease," commented Bishop coldly as Leatherhead was only a short distance away from ripping into Bishop. "Harm me in any way and Stockman stops, but if your revenge is worth more than your friend's life, than by all means, hurt me."

Leatherhead responded with another growl, before the giant croc calmed himself down, turning away from Bishop, who nodded, knowing that he had gotten under the croc's skin as much as he could. In an instant, Leatherhead turned his attention towards Stockman.

"Show me the work you've done so far on finding a cure, Stockman," said Leatherhead with forced patient and Stockman motioned for Leatherhead to join him, as it appeared that they would have to work together before a cure would be formulated. Master Splinter looked at Don in the stasis tank.

"Hang on, my son," muttered Splinter under his breath, as he leaned forward on his walking stick, briefly wondering how successful the others were on their mission to retrieve the required item from Foot Headquarters.

They moved halfway up the shaft, before Leo turned to Raph, who was on the edge.

"Okay Raph, this is where you get off, you do know the plan right?" commented Leo and Raph nodded, as Mikey, Leo and Harry continued to make their way up to the top, as Raph climbed through another hatch into a corridor.

Raph walked down the short and slightly winding corridor, before he pushed up the door. In an instant, he found himself in a large store room. Inside the room was stock piled weaponry, stretching from as far as the eye could see, including several large Foot Mech battle suits in the back of the room.

"Oooh, toys," commented Raph with glee, as he took in the room for a few seconds, rather impressed, before he walked forward, removing his Sai. He used the Sai to open the back of an explosive device, before he pulled wires out of the back, pulling them over, as he wrapped them around the legs of some of the Mech Battle Suits one by one, to prepare for the diversionary tactic that Leo asked for.

Meanwhile on the other end of the building, Leo, Mikey, and Harry reached the top of the elevator shaft. Harry quickly blasted the doors open, allowing them to exit into a hallway. Mikey and Leo looked at each other, this hallway looked vaguely familiar, but they could not place it exactly.

"Okay, we are one floor below where the artifact is held and I suspect that behind that door, there should be a way to get up there," remarked Harry, as they walked forward towards the door.

"Karai's changed a lot of the building, but yet, everything here looks like, you don't suppose…" stated Leo as Harry pulled the doors in front of him open. The doors opened and the group peered inside a large room with a temple.

"I remember this place, I remember it all too well, that's where we fought the Mystic Foot Ninjas," commented Mikey. "You know, maybe if we go back, we can find another way through…"

"The thing is, there isn't another way through," stated Harry, as he cut Mikey off. "As Bishop said, the artifact's on the next floor, we have to go through and hope for the best."

'I hope, but I know it never turns out any good," commented Mikey, as they stepped forward, moving through the room, through the mist in the room. The room gave an impression of a rather chilly and foreboding atmosphere, especially as they moved closer to the statues that had turned into the Foot Mystics during the raid of the Turtles on Foot Headquarters some years ago. It seemed to take an eternity to cross the room, especially as they moved up the stairs towards the temple. Instinctively, the group shut their eyes, as they took steps past the statues. Much to their relief, the statues remained immobile, as they made their way towards the temple.

"The elevator should be on the other side, if this place hasn't changed," muttered Leo under his breath and sure enough, this part of the building remained exactly the same. The elevator doors opened, allowing the trio of ninjas inside. Harry reached over, activating the elevator, so it rose up exactly one floor from where they were.

The second the trio of ninjas left, the Foot Mystics turned from statues into their normal forms, looking rather pleased at the events that were unfolding.

After a few seconds, the elevator reached the next floor with a solid ding and the doors opened. Leo, Harry, and Mikey exited the elevator, moving forward through a large room that was the size a moderate sized house. Harry raised his wand and the door across from them clicked open. Sitting behind the door was a small room, with a table. On the table set a crystal pendant.

"This has to be it," said Harry, as the group walked forward, looking at the pendant as the moved towards it. Harry studied the pendant, something was very peculiar about it. "Be careful guys, this thing appears to have some strange magical properties, some that I've certainly never seen."

"Yeah, and besides, you know the minute we touch this thing, this place is going to go haywire, right?" asked Mikey and Leo nodded, before they moved into position to take the pendant.

Tentatively, the group formed a circle around the pendant, before Leo slowly, cautiously withdrew his katana. He tucked the weapon underneath the crystal pendant and slowly lifted it up. His eyes were shut, as he lifted the pendent up and flung it back. Quickly, he expertly caught it in one hand. Blinking, he held up the pendant, as they relaxed and slightly laughed, when it was obviously that removing the pendant had done nothing.

The laughter was short lived, as the door swung open to reveal Karai, dressed in full Shredder armor. Her eyes widened in absolute horror from beneath the helmet when she spotted the pendant in Leo's hand.

"No, what are you doing?" demanded Karai as she stepped forward, but Leo turned to communicate through his headset to Raph.

"Raph, you're on, any moment now," said Leo.

Back in the weapons room, Raph had just finished wiring all of the explosives to all of the battle suits but one. Quickly, Raph moved forward, climbing into the sole Foot Mech battle suit, before he held up a remote control device that detonate the largest explosive setting off a chain reaction.

"Right, contact, ignition, and blast off," commented Raph as he pressed the button and several loud explosions came off, as the Mech Battle Suits were blow to smithereens, along with several other weapons, as Raph moved off, from the carnage that also contained several more high level explosions.

The explosions shook the floor below Karai, Mikey, Leo, and Harry, causing them to stagger slightly. Karai in an instant, regained her balance and thus turned her full attention towards her enemies.

"Give me the pendant!" yelled Karai as she rushed forward, but Leo passed the pendant off to Mikey, before he avoided an attack from Karai. Quickly, Karai rotated on the spot and moved towards Mikey, jabbing her gauntlet towards the turtle, attempting to stab him to get him to hand over the pendant. "Give it to me now!"

"Whoa!" gasped Mikey, as Karai slammed her gauntlet across the table, as Mikey narrowly avoided her attack. Another attack, prompted Mikey to pass the pendant over Karai's head to Harry. Harry caught it and ducked an attack from Karai. Karai landed firmly on her feet and turned around, attempting to level Harry with a punch but Harry moved himself out of the way with a back flip.

"Give it to me," demanded Karai, as she once again attempted to attack Harry but Harry managed to cause her gauntlet to be stuck in the wall for a second, Karai wrenched herself free from the wall and moved forward towards Harry, forcing him to duck the shut. "Give it me now, you cannot take it."

"We have to," said Leo as he moved in, katana drawn, forcing Karai to spin around. The clang of steel against steel echoed throughout the room, as Karai and Leo battled before Karai sprung up. Seconds later, Leo found himself on the ground and Karai rushed Harry, but Harry passed the pendant to Mikey, before he dodged around and motioned towards the elevator. Quickly, the two Turtles and Harry dove into the elevator, much to Karai's displeasure, they had retrieved the pendant.

Karai dove into the elevator right after them. She would not allow them to escape. She aimed a kick right towards Mikey, causing him to be trapped across the wall. Mikey just manage managed to duck another kick that might have very well caved his skull in had Karai pulled it off. Leo moved forward and Karai back handed him, dropping him. Quickly, Harry put his back against the wall and kicked off against Karai, knocking her out. He prepared to shut the elevator, but Karai blocked the doors from shutting with her gauntlet. Mikey gasped as Karai dove in, reaching for the pendant. At that moment, Leo and Harry caught her, each grabbing a leg, before they flung Karai out. Quickly, Mikey slammed on the button that closed the elevator doors.

Karai landed on her feet, looking in despair of the two mutants and Potter having escaped with the pendant. She could not allow them to do so but thankfully she had the means to stop their efforts. At that moment, the Foot Elite walked forward and Karai angrily turned to them.

"They must not leave, do you hear me, cut off their thieving hands and bring them to me!" ordered Karai and the Foot Elite bowed, before the teleported into a puff of second.

Seconds later, they were in the elevator with Mikey, Leo, and Harry. Harry just avoided being impaled by a spear, as Leo used his katana to block a shot with the battle axe. The other two Foot Elite advanced on Mikey, who was backed off into a corner. Quickly, Harry threw an uppercut punch, staggering the spear wielder, before he used the wooden handle of the spear to propel himself up, knocking one of the Foot Elite away from Mikey. This allowed Mikey to engage his other opponent in battle, leaping forward. The attempts of his weapons swinging at the Foot Elite, as it blocked the nunchucks with its trident, before Mikey was knocked backwards to the ground. Quickly, Harry slammed on the button, allowing to exit, before he conjured sparks from out of nowhere, backing off the Foot Elite, allowing the trio to escape the elevator, before planning their next move.

"Great," said Leo as the Foot Elite teleported in front of them, before rushing forward to the attack. Leo used his katanas to block the double edge sword of his opponent. Harry spiraled around, managing to avoid the attacks of two of the Elite guards without the use of weaponry, conjuring a large metal shield to block the attacks, before he leapt up over them. He caught the Axe as it was swung, before he pushed the Foot Elite Guard backwards into the trident wielding guard.

Mikey battled his opponent off on the other end, swinging his nunchucks wildly. The Elite Guard dodged the attacks, before he pivoted around and knocked Mikey to his back. Mikey was flat on the ground, clutching the pendant as the Foot Elite guard raised the spear. The turtle closed his eyes and the Elite Guard attempted to impale his adversary. However, a large green magical shield appeared around Mikey, saving him from harm. His opponent was staggered back allowing Mikey to get back into the battle, but still, the Foot Elite Guard was dominating him. In face, the entire Elite were really taking the fight to the two Turtles and Harry.

"Guys, take the pendant, find a way out of here, I'm going to hold them off," stated Harry and Mikey and Leo looked at Harry like he was absolutely insane. "Don't worry about me, I'll find a way out, go, go now."

Leo shoved one of the Elite back and Harry pulled him forward, before causing the opponent to slam into the wall. Another Elite Guard attempted to split Harry's skull with the axe but Harry dodged it, as Leo and Mikey took a few tentative steps to the nearest door, but at that moment, a large Foot Mech crashed through the door, sending pieces of wood flying in every direction. The Mech took a few thunderous steps forward, as Mikey and Leo instinctively withdrew their weapons.

"Get out, but I just got here," said Raph, who was driving the Foot Mech robot, causing Mikey and Leo to relax their stance. Raph began firing high impact weaponry at the Foot Elite Ninjas, causing them to scatter. The Elite were on the defensive, but only for a short time as they teleported away in a cloud of smoke. Once they reappeared, they were on top of the Mech, jamming and stabbing their weapons at it. Eventually, one of the Elite Guards hit a circuitry unit. The suit began smoking and Raph was forced to eject, just before the suit self destructed. A small explosion sent several pieces of metal everywhere, forcing all the occupants of the room to scatter.

When they were back on their feet, Raph turned to his brothers, seeing the pendant in Mikey's hand, and knowing that they had the upper hand.

"Now, I think would be a good time for us to get out of here, while the getting's good," suggested Raph quickly and the others nodded in agreement.

"I think not!" thundered Karai and sure enough, several hundred Foot Ninjas had entered the room, surrounding the four ninjas, weapons drawn, advancing upon them, as Harry, Mikey, Leo, and Raph stood, also drawing weapons.

"You know, is the phrase, 'worse case scenario', running through anyone else's mind right now?" asked Mikey.

"We don't have time for this," said Leo and Harry quickly withdrew the mirror from his pocket.

"Ginny are you out there?" asked Harry hopefully.

"Yes, right outside the building in the helicopter, what do you need Harry?" asked Ginny.

"Fire at the building right now, don't ask questions, just do it," said Harry and at that minute, several rockets impacted the side of the building. Quickly, Harry put a shield charm over himself and his brothers, blocking the impact of the blast. With a large hole blown in the side of the building, several of the Foot Ninjas downed, Harry motioned for the others to follow them. Hailey lowered a rope ladder. Quickly, they dove off the side of the building, clinging onto the ladder.

Karai angrily wrenched a piece of debris off of herself, before she moved forward and her eyes widened, when she saw the helicopter flying off in the distance, the glint of the pendant taunting her. In despair at her loss, Karai dropped to her knees, reared back her head, and screamed in absolute agony.

Back in the lab, Leatherhead inserted a glass cylinder full of a purple chemical into the opening in the stasis chamber containing the large roach mutant. The chemical filled the chamber, separating the sewer worker from the roach. The roach shrunk down to normal size, all of the outbreak mutant purged from its system. Bishop watched from the distance, nodding approvingly.

"Impressing Mr. Leatherhead and to think, I was going to dissect you," commented Bishop casually. "What a waste that would be, as it appears that you are even more brilliant than Stockman."

"What?" thundered Stockman incredulously at the thought that a filthy mutated animal could be even more brilliant than in but he declined on mentioning the fact that Leatherhead's antidote would not have been formulated had it not been for his genius research.

"So it works," prompted Master Splinter and Bishop nodded in confirmation by Splinter's side, before he turned to Stockman.

"Prepare an airborne strain of the antidote for the city, along with a sample for Donatello should his brothers hold up their end of the bargain," remarked Bishop and Stockman moved off as quickly as his robotic shell could carry him and seconds later, Mikey, Raph, Leo, Harry, Hailey, and Ginny made their way inside. Bishop turned to address them. "Well did you retrieve the item?"

Mikey stepped forward with the pendant and Bishop held out his hand. In an instant, Mikey put the pendant in Bishop's hand. At that very second, a loud blaring siren echoed throughout the entire lab.

"Base destruct sequence initiated, ten minutes until total base destruction," blared a voice over the loud speaker, as red lights flashed around them.

"This base has been compromised by your presence, Donatello has been given the cure, you have less than ten minutes to retrieve him and vacant the premises," commented Bishop, before with a smug smile on his face, he gave a slight, nearly mocking bow, towards the group. "It's been a pleasure doing business with you."

Bishop moved off, but there was no time to go after them, as they turned to the stasis tank with Don inside. It opened in front as Don staggered out, looking rather dizzied, as he looked up.

"Uh, what happened?" slurred Don, as there was still some lingering effects from the outbreak mutagen being purged from his system. He nearly collapsed on the ground, but Leatherhead gently caught him, helping Don to his feet.

"I've got you my friend," said Leatherhead, as Harry looked anxiously towards the door, with Harry, Ginny, Hailey, Master Splinter, the Turtles, and Leatherhead all moving towards the doors, as the alarms continued to blare throughout the entire base.

They made their way to the helicopter, entering the helicopter, and taking it to the air, just seconds before the base blew sky high, as the helicopter left the premises. As it was in the air, Don turned, his memory still fuzzy from what happened, but he suspected he had been out of it for a long time. The last thing he remembered was the power went out at the Potter Residence.

"I don't know what happened, but I do hope that whatever happened to me, I was not too much trouble," commented Don and everyone exchanged looks, before Harry decided to speak up.

"Not much trouble, not at all, we'll fill you in later through," said Harry, as the helicopter moved back to New York.

Back in the city, jets flew through the skies, clouds of gas coming through the air, being filtered through New York. The gas flowed into the sewer, eliminating all the mutagen, along with curing all the deformed beasts within.

"Reports are coming in from New York, it appears that the outbreak is in full remission, there have not been any reports of new mutants in the hours since the cure was administered," commented Stockman as he fixed the pendant into position right in front of the laser, as Bishop nodded calmly, before he turned to his faceless contact.

"We have the pendant, but this had better be worth all the trouble that we went through to get it," said Bishop, calmly, as he looked at his contact over his glasses.

"Of course, as I said, this artifact contains secrets, the likes of which you could not have dreamed of," responded the faceless contact. "Do you have the laser frequency adjusted to how we directed?"

"Yes, yes, yes," stated Stockman, before he added under his breath, "Backseat scientists."

Stockman twisted the knob, as the laser fired up and blasted right towards the pendant. In an instant, the pendant was shattered into dust.

"No," stated Bishop in a shocked voice, before he turned to his contact who was laughing and then it struck Bishop. "This has been a lie, an elaborate lie."

"It's been a pleasure doing business with you, Agent Bishop," taunted the faceless contact, before he disappeared from the transmission.

"Who would do this and why?" asked Stockman but Bishop just remained silent, as he wondered the same exact thing.

Back in the Foot Mystic temple, the faceless contact morphed back into the metal Foot Mystic.

"The crystal has been destroyed," reported the metal Foot Mystic.

"And with it, Karai's hold over us," added the water Foot Mystic.

"She thought as long as she held it she would be safe," continued the earth Foot Mystic.

"But now it is dust," concluded the wind Foot Mystic and with that instant, the Foot Mystics began to shed their enslaved forms, in favor of more demonic forms.

"And we are free, free to resurrect the true Shredder," declared the fire Foot Mystic, as all of the mystics clashed their staffs together.

"And a new age of chaos, shall begin," commented the water Foot Mystic, and in a blink of the eye, the Foot Mystics disappeared from the Foot Headquarters, to begin to make plans to resurrect their long contained master, the powerful force that originally held the mantle of the Shredder, long before the Utrom and Karai.


	24. Chapter 24: Lap of the Gods

**Chapter Twenty Four: The Lap of the Gods:**

In the lair, the Turtles were moving around furniture, with Harry off to the side, attempting to exactly pinpoint the location of the mystery Voldemort Horcrux in Albania. On the sofa that they were moving, Don was sitting on it, looking rather irritated as Leo and Raph held it up on either side, moving it around while Mikey supervised from the other end, attempting to get a neutral view from where it lined up in relation to the entertainment center on the other side of the lair.

"Okay guys, a little bit to the left, a little bit more, no wait a little bit to the right, keep going, that's it, now set it down right now," commented Mikey as Raph and Leo set it down with a grunt, before Raph turned around to look at Mikey.

"That was right where we started," said Raph in a surly voice.

"Now that you mention it, that sofa does look a little crooked, so I guess it's going to have to be moved a little bit more," critiqued Mikey and Raph just groaned, glaring at Mikey.

"Guys, get up a let me help, this is driving me insane just sitting here while you're moving furniture, especially when the furniture has me on it," commented Don in an irritated tone of voice, as Raph and Leo moved furniture around. "Let me help you."

"Sorry Don it's just that…." started Leo before he took a deep breath as he thought about how to best break his reasons to Don. "It's just that we don't want you to have a relapse of your condition. As far as we know, the cure has worked, as it's been several days, but still we don't want to take any unnecessary chances. We know you're feel fine, but still, it's not worth the risk.

"Yeah, besides you weren't exactly that pleasant to live around when you were a snarling monster," added Raph as Mikey's eyes bolted up, looking seriously towards his brother.

"Yeah, not saying you could control it, but it wasn't all that pleasant when you tried to have my right foot for lunch," stated Mikey, which prompted Don just screwed his eyes shut in despair, before he turned to his brothers, taking a deep breath.

"I'm sorry, I don't remember anything, from the moment before I turned to the moment after I was cured, everything else is just a blank spot in my head, but I'm sorry for everything I did, if I hadn't gotten infected, you would not have dealt with me," said Don as he hung his head.

"Live and learn and besides, think of it this way, if you hadn't gotten infected Don, we might have been pushed to work with Bishop and Stockman to help find a cure and thus the entire city will still be overrun with outbreak mutants," commented Harry logically, as he just looked up from his work on the other end of the lair for a briefest moment.

"So see Don, there's a silver lining to this cloud," said Leo.

"I suppose you're right but still, I feel perfectly fine, I hate being confined to the lair," commented Don and at that moment, Harry triumphantly raised his hand up in the air, as he held up the piece of paper. When he saw the curious looks etched on the faces of his brothers, he decided he better let them on the source of his sudden burst of joy.

"I've cross linked all of the locations of Albania where there have been heavy concentrations of dark magical energy over recent years and I know where the Horcrux is now," stated Harry as he held the map out for the others to see an area that had been marked with a small red circle in the center. "This is a well right in the center of a large village and there's an inn close by that has been rumored to be a meeting place for Voldemort sympathizers in the country both before his first downfall and after. So a perfect spot to stash a piece of his soul as there will be people nearby that would send word of someone that might be against him was around the area."

"Really, that's great Harry," praised Leo. "Wait, you're sure that a Horcrux is right there, at that exact location."

"Many of these reported fluctuations have been rather recent, some a bit earlier on, but most recent yes, and it's too much of a coincidence to have this much dark magical energy coming from one area without it being a Horcrux," stated Harry. "All I have to worry about is where the other Horcrux might be and then it's time to return to deal with Voldemort.."

"You know, I just thought of something Harry," stated Mikey.

"I thought I smelled something burning," muttered Raph.

"Ha, ha, Raph," said Mikey in a sarcastic tone of voice before he cleared his throat. "No seriously, what if old Voldemort has one of his Horcruxes right under his nose the entire time?"

"You know, Mikey does bring up a good point, Voldemort would like to make the Horcrux does not leave his sight does make sense, I mean, he could not keep track of six Horcruxes, but one would be very easy to do so," hypothesized Don and Harry replied with a calm nod.

"You're not the first person to bring up that point, and believe me, I think it's rather possible, but without knowing what the Horcrux is and damn it, Voldemort's at Hogwarts," muttered Harry as he sprung up to start to pace and back and forth. "Given the high level of magic in the air at Hogwarts, it would mute any Horcruxes, very clever Tom…this could complicate things."

"Yeah it could Harry, but listen, you've got four Horcruxes, soon to be five, so you're well on your way to defeating Voldemort as it is," stated Leo in a confident voice. "Right now, you can make plans to set out tomorrow, but since we've all been all cooped up, I suggest we go out, get some fresh air for a little bit."

"You know good point, after hunting monsters the past three months, it might be good to go out without having to deal with any monsters," added Raph but Harry looked severely skeptical.

"The Foot's still out there, I don't know what else…" started Harry but Mikey cut him off.

"C'mon Harry, what could happen?" asked Mikey and Harry did not want to even begin to list but he supposed it might do him some good to have some fun before he went after the Horcrux and eventually Voldemort.

On the roof top, the five brothers were on the roof top, goofing off, enjoying themselves, just pretty much having a good time with no regards of what's come before and indeed, what would soon come in the future. There could be plenty of time in the not so distinct future to worry or reflect on what happened, but right now, Harry and The Turtles blocked that out of their minds, at least for a matter of moments.

Unfortunately, little did they know a quintet of stiff looking figures dressed in black cloaks with their faces obscured were peering across the street towards the Turtles and Harry, watching their every moment, stalking them, preparing to move into position to fulfill their mission, as it was all beginning to unravel at a remarkable rate and they were the only one's who could correct it for their masters. They swooped off into the shadows, as they continued to follow the movement of their query.

Back in his room in the lair, Master Splinter was deep in meditation. At that moment, he heard footsteps that slightly broke his concentration as a figure walked from an underground cave that served as a bit of an emergency exit from the lair on the off chance they were attacked again. Splinter pulled himself up, leaning on his walking stick as he looked forward to see the rotund figure of the Ancient One wobbling towards the lair.

"Ancient One," said Splinter in surprise, as he saw the sensei of his Master Yoshi. "What do I owe the pleasure to your visit?"

"Greetings Splinter-san," commented the Ancient One as he looked around. "Do you know where your sons are?"

"I believe they are outside in the city, enjoying some fresh air for a couple of hours," commented Master Splinter and with that, the Ancient One's demeanor became very grave.

"No, I am too late, too wait," gasped the Ancient One as he shook his head. "They will have them soon, it's only a matter of time, I wish I had made it here sooner."

"What is it, Ancient One?" asked Master Splinter. "Who would have them? Who has my sons? What do you know?"

"Perhaps it's not still too late, perhaps we can still find them before the Ninja Tribunal comes," said the Ancient One and with that, Splinter seemed to have aged about ten years, as he stooped over, clutching his walking stick, as his eyes widened at the ramifications of what the Ancient One had just told him. "Yes, Splinter-San, it has begun, sooner than we could have ever dreamed."

"Then the dreams that Harry were having had the meaning we feared," said Splinter and the Ancient One nodded grimly. "Then we must make preparations to find them."

"No, it's too late, by now, their agents have gotten to them and unless you know exactly where they are, they can never be found," argued the Ancient One and if possible, Splinter's expression became even more grave yet, as he sighed, he had hoped this would never come but based on the bits and pieces he had managed to find out from the Ancient One, his sons were in the gravest danger of their lives and given what they have been through, that was saying a whole lot.

On the roof, The Turtles and Harry were more than prepared to call it an evening, but in an instant, the figures swooped down from the roof, right in front of them, causing them to move backwards in surprise.

"What are those things?" demanded Mikey in awe.

"Not the Foot, but something tells me that what they are, they aren't here to have a chat," stated Harry as the stiff figures removed tonfa and began to clash them together, as they bowed before their adversaries and them moved forward to the attack.

Quickly, Raph used his Sais to block an attempted shot from his opponent, as Leo clashed his swords against the tonfa of his enemy. Don sprung up using his Bo Staff as the stiff opponent he clashed with swung the tonfa lightly and casually, as if it was seamless as breathing. Mikey spun his nunchucks and sprung up. The figure he fought did not move, in fact, Mikey crashed his nunchucks across the top of the head.

"Okay, something's really wrong here," commented Mikey, as his stiffened enemy did not even give any indication that Mikey had touched him, but did take a step back and bow, as Raph sprung around, aiming a kick, but he felt a pain as his foot struck something solid that most definitely was not human flesh.

"Yeah, you think," grunted Raph, as he hopped around on one foot before he removed his Sais and flung them at his opponent, but they were caught. The enemy stepped backwards and motioned for Raph to pick his Sais back off. Moving forward suspiciously, Raph pulled his Sais off the ground, before he continued the fight.

On the other end, Harry sprung up and landed firmly behind his opponent, before he rushed forward, around his opponent, but the enemy remained immobile and rather passive. So, reaching into his sleeve, Harry decided to take a more offensive approach by flicking two shuriken at the enemy. They were sent right back at Harry with a swing from the tonfa and Harry had to dodge to avoid being struck. Moving around, Harry slid underneath an attack, before he sprung up and attempted to bring his foot down across the top of the head of his opponent. This did not work out too well, as Harry found himself bounced off, until he landed on the ground, before his wooden enemy stepped forward and swung the tonfa at Harry but Harry avoided the attack.

Meanwhile, Don held up his Bo Staff to block the tonfa shut. Another Bo Staff blocked the tonfa shots, before Don sprung up, but a second later, the stiff figure pivoted and faced off against the turtle, another class of wood against the wall. Leo rammed his shoulder into his opponent and became airborne, before the sword was impacted right into the mask The figure staggered backwards as Leo gasped, as his sword had impacted the top of the log, which was the faceless head of his opponent.

"Guys, they're made of wood, that must be why we couldn't touch it," muttered Leo as the wooden figure's log head began to heal, before it turned back into a battle stance, directed towards Leo. The wooden figure rushed forward and Leo dodged, but the wooden figure strengthened the power of its attacks, knocking Leo back and forth. Leo barely managed to block it with his katanas, as the wooden figure was slowly wearing Leo down. Finally Leo could barely hold his arms up and this was the opening that his stiff adversary needed, as the tonfa was raised up and impacted right onto the top of the head of Leo.

Raph forced his opponent back and moved forward, seeing Leo get struck down across the back of the head, but the wooden warrior that Raph fought moved forward, cracking the tonfa up against the head of Raph, dropping him down to the ground. On the other end, Mikey, Don, and Harry continued their battles, fully aware that their two brothers had been knocked out. Mikey aimed his nunchucks out, but his enemy crouched down, almost as if compacted. Mikey attempted to swing around, but the figure reached forward, removing Mikey's weapons from his hands. Quickly both tonfa spun at the speed of light, both cracking against the chest of Mikey. With a thud, Mikey dropped to his knees and a shot against the back of the head completely dropped Mikey to the ground.

On the other end, Don moved forward, but the wooden warrior jabbed Don right in the chest. Don was dropped to the ground and the wooden warrior smashed the tonfa right in the face, which left Harry alone against all five of his opponents. Harry managed to deflect most of the shots, using a variety of magical attacks, before he sprung up onto his ledge. Two of the wooden warriors threw their tonfa hard, causing the ledge to crack from below Harry. Harry lost his balance, dropping to his knees, where two of the wooden warriors grabbed him by the arms. Before Harry could free himself, a third raised the tonfa and the next thing Harry knew, it was lights out for him.

With all four of the Turtles and Harry knocked unconscious, their adversaries grabbed them by the arms and began to drag them from the top of the buildings, to transport them to their masters without being seen by any wandering eyes. They had given a bit more of a struggle, but it just showed that they were worthy for the goals of the Ninja Tribunal.

Back in the lair, Master Splinter turned to the Ancient One in all seriousness etched on his face.

"Ancient One, I need you to take me to them immediately," stated Splinter in a firm voice and the Ancient One became grave.

"I am afraid this impossible Splinter-san, they would not appreciate this," replied the Ancient One and at that moment, a very frantic looking Ginny Weasley burst through the entrance of the lair.

"Harry's in trouble," said Ginny without bothering with formalities. "I know, it's hard to explain, but someone's snagged him, haven't they?"

"Yes, I'm afraid so, Ginny," confirmed Splinter. "Along with my other four sons, a group that's…"

"Splinter-san, I doubt very much that she should be told, after all, the less who know of this crisis, the better," stated the Ancient One in a very nervous voice, the fact that Splinter knew of a fair bit of what was going on was already pushing things.

"If it involves Harry I should know!" snapped Ginny, as she stood with her hands planted firmly on her hips, as she stared at both of the Ancient One and Master Splinter, the infamous Weasley temper was not pleasant to be on the receiving end of, even for two long studied masters of ninjitsu. "So, please tell me, or I'll get the entire American Wizarding Government involved as I think they would know if something happened to one of their citizens."

Splinter remained silent, he obviously knew that with the exception of Alexandra, the American Wizarding Government thought Harry to be dead, but given the look on the Ancient One's face, he did not know this. While he did not wish to endanger anyone in this, the fact remains that Ginny would have found a way to follow them anyway, so it would be whether they knew where she was.

"It's rather difficult to explain everything, in fact, there are certain aspects that remain a mystery even to me," commented the Ancient One.

"Then take us to the Ninja Tribunal," said Splinter and Ginny nodded in agreement, as the Ancient One nodded, before motioning for the two to follow them. He knew they would not approve, but the Ninja Tribunal would also be exposed if a hot tempered young girl who was obviously upset that her beloved had been kidnapped had done something to bring an entire magical government upon them.

Ginny kept a mirror at the ready. While she did not tell the others of her strong, persistent sense that something happened to Harry, she was ready to inform them once they had all been found.

In a dark dank cellar, Harry's eyes began to open, as he gave his head a slight shake as he began to come back to his senses. Around him, he saw that the others were slowly waking up, they appeared to be what looked like the dungeon. Given that his common room for six years was in a dungeon, Harry felt he should be used to the dark and depressive atmosphere, but this seemed rather unnerving at any rate.

"Oh, my head, anyone know what happened?" grumbled Raph as he shook his head, he felt a bit dizzy.

"Well, it should be obviously, some wooden mannequins with tonfa knocked the snot out of us and brought us here," stated Mikey as he looked around. "So does anyone know where here is?"

"Search me," commented Don calmly, as he pulled himself up to his feet, surprised that they had not been tied down with any restraints.

"We need to find a way out of here, to find out what's going on," suggested Harry and at that moment, the door of the room opened as if on its own accord swung open, causing the quintet of ninjas to do a double take in shock at what had occurred.

"Okay that was convenient," remarked Mikey calmly.

"A little too convenient if you ask me," said Leo with a shake of his head, as he stepped towards the door. "Let's go, but be careful, there's something up here."

Instantly, the group quickly, but cautiously, moved towards the door, one by one passing the doorway and into a long hallway, that seemed to stretch from several feet in all directions. The group walked down the hallway and after they traveled for several minutes, stopping as they saw a peculiar sight right in front of them. The weapons of the Turtles were floating in mid air right in front of them, contained in a field of what appeared to be pure white magical energy.

"Okay Harry, what do you make of this?" asked Leo and Harry leaned forward, studying the magic intently, it was not like anything he had ever seen, yet it did not seem to be of dark and dangerous orientations.

"I think it's safe, take your weapons and see what happens," suggested Harry and Leo, Don, Raph, and Mikey stepped forward one by one, as they grabbed the weapons from the field of magical energy. Nothing happened, as they were able to grab their weapons. As they stepped back, the field of magical energy disappeared and another new addition behind them prompted a double take in surprise.

"Uh, was that door there a minute ago?" asked Mikey and the others shook their heads, before they stepped forward. Raph raised his Sai, preparing to pick the lock of the door, but the door once again swung open on its own accord. "Okay, this is strange, doors appearing mysteriously, opening on their own accord…"

"Yeah, it's like Hogwarts almost, but not quite, I'm getting a strange feeling about this place that I'm not quite liking, not at all" remarked Harry as they walked forward through the doorway, as they were in a room filled with mist.

"Okay, now what," said Raph in an irritated voice, as the mist began to vanish around them, as they found themselves surrounded by glass cases, containing the same wooden warriors that they fought against earlier. Right in front of them, a large pedestal containing five chairs could be visible.

"Uh guys," stated Don as he pointed, four of the chairs were occupied by imposing figures. They stepped forward a few inches to get a better look and they saw the individuals wore the armor of the Shredder, the very sight of this particular armor multiplied times four caused Harry's blood to run cold.

"Welcome warriors, you have been chosen to deal with a matter of great importance," stated one of the figures, a female.

"A matter that is great importance, that may put the entire world in danger," continued the second of the Shredder like figures, a male.

"You may be the hope of all humanity, to go against one of the most dangerous evils the world has ever seen," stated the third figure, another male, while the fourth figure remained silent, but he gave off a rather imposing aura.

"However, we can only train one of you, the greatest of you, the strongest of you, the one that will be able to deal with this threat head on," remarked the first figure coldly.

"Therefore, you must combat each other, the last one living will gain the full training," stated the second figure.

"May the best warrior win," concluded the third figure as the fourth individual nodded, as the Turtles and Harry turned to each other-, with different expressions of shock etched upon the faces of the five brothers.

"They're not serious are they?" asked Mikey in a confused voice.

"They sounded serious to me," stated Harry.

"Well, I don't know what to do, I doubt they're going to let us out of here, unless we…" started Leo but Raph shook his head, cutting Leo off.

"I vote instead of attacking each other, we go after them, make them show us the door," grunted Raph, and at that instant, the four Turtles jumped towards their mysterious kidnappers, weapons drawn, with Harry following closely behind. This mysterious quartet did not seem rather worried about the fact that five very angry, well trained ninjas were about to attack them. Rather they rose to their feet and clapped their hands once, causing the glass cases to open and several of the wooden warriors to move forward, to protect their masters.

"Not these things again," stated Don as they turned their attention to the approaching figures. "Last time we got embarrassed by these things, out classed in every way."

"Well, now's time for a little retribution," commented Raph, as he twirled his Sais between his hands and the figures moved forward, tonfa raised, ready to strike down their opponents.

"Halt," commented one of the males of this group and the wooden warriors stalled, before they moved back towards their cases.

"You would attack us rather than do as we instruct?" stated the second male.

"Of course we would," stated Harry firmly, as the others nodded by his side equally confident, but the group seemed to peer down towards the brothers.

"You have passed the first test then, all of you have proved worthy for training, at least at the moment," stated the female member of the group mysteriously and at that instant, the surroundings in the entire room vanished, leaving a very stunned group alone.

"Okay, I don't like this, what was that all about?" asked Mikey.

"This just keeps getting weirder and weirder by the moment," stated Raph but a hissing sound was heard as a stairway appeared in the center of the room, leading to a wooden trap door in the ceiling above them.

"Something tells me we have move up through here," said Leo and sure enough, they walked up the stairs towards the trap door. The trap door swung open, and the group climbed up through. Looking around, they were on a ship, in the middle of the ocean and it was heading towards a place that Harry recognized immediately.

"Japan," muttered Harry calmly as they approached the edge of Japan from the ocean, peering over, as the ship suddenly stopped in front of the island.

"Warriors we have arrived," stated a voice. "Please climb the hill to the temple at the top, but be warned, your burdens will be great as you approach your destination, so tread lightly young warriors."

"What does he mean that our burdens will be greatly?" asked Mikey and suddenly, five large bags appeared in front of them, out of nowhere once again. Harry, Mikey, Leo, Raph, and Don began to hoist them up, struggling to do so despite their heavy strength and condition, as they exited the ship, before they made their way up.

"I don't like this, we're jumping when these people say jump, we don't know exactly who they are or why they grabbed us," stated Raph. "I say we find a way to get out of here."

"Raph, we don't know yet, and until we know, I suggest we play along, it will be easier for us to find something out if we play by our rules by now," argued Leo and Raph just grunted, as they held their bags, struggling attempting to hold them up.

"Wait, that's not fair!" shouted Mikey, as he saw the four figures shoot up towards the top of the mountain, levitating from the group, without having to climb, as they reached the temple on the top of the hill, as the group began to lug their baggage towards the top of the hill, the journey was long and winding, as they struggled up the mountain.

After almost an hour, they reached the top of the mountain, Mikey in particular nearly collapsing, but the other brothers also rather winded. The doors of the temple swung open allowing them entrance.

The Turtles and Harry walked open, and once again, this mysterious group stared down at them, calm and rather uncaring at any agony that the five warriors are going through.

"Okay, just who are you people anyway?" demanded Harry and the group stared at them, before a large burst of blinding white light flowing around the room around them, as the Shredder armor had vanished from around them, the group dressed in black robes, as they stared down at their chosen warriors, obviously they would not settle for a lack of an explanation for much longer, but introductions were in order.

"Con-Shishou, Master of Spirits," stated one of the male figures as he rose up into the air, revealing several ghostly figures swirling in the air around Con as the Turtles and Harry looked at the mysterious warrior with a form of awe, despite their irritation of being taken off against their will.

"Juto-Shishou, Master of Weapons," introduced the second of the male figures, and at that instant, several sharp, pointed weapons blasted towards the Turtles and Harry. The group prepared to shield themselves, but the weapons were drawn back before they pierced the group.

"Shikara-Shishou, Master of Strength," stated the female figure as a large rock appeared in front of her and she leapt up, smashing her fist down upon it, breaking it into dust, effortlessly.

"And this is Hisomi-Shishou, Master of Stealth," commented Juto, as he pointed to the large figure, and in an instant, he appeared to have vanished, before he appeared behind the Turtles. "Together, we are known as the Ninja Tribunal, alternatively known to some as the Tribunal of Japanese Mages."

With that, Harry felt eight eyes on him and he vaguely remembered reading something about them in the History of Magic textbook, but they were regarded as a myth to most, but yet they were here in front of them right now.

"This temple is known as the Lap of the Gods," explained Shakara. "Throughout the centuries, many have been taken here to be trained, acolytes to fight some of the largest, most dangerous threats in the world. Some acolytes broke under the pressure, while other preserved and became known as some of the greatest ninjitsu masters in the world."

"The threat that you were brought here to combat is larger than anything you could imagine, anything that you have ever faced up to this date," stated Con. "We need not remind you this threat is coming immediately and steps must be taken to combat it."

"Combat it anyway you must, but you can do it without my sons," stated Master Splinter firmly, as he walked into the temple, leaning on his walking stick as the Turtles and Harry looked pleased, and at that moment, Ginny rushed forward, warmly, wrapping her arms around Harry, kissing him, looking rather relieved, a gesture that Harry gladly returned.

"Harry, thank Merlin, you're okay," stated Ginny as they slowly broke about. "What's going on here anyway?"

"That's what we're trying to find out," informed Harry, and Ginny turned to the group above, who did not look all that pleased with the two new arrivals having entered the Lap of the Gods.

"You are not permitted here," said Con coldly. "Who showed you this place?"

At that moment, the Ancient One entered the room, sheepishly peering from behind a corner, like a three year old who was caught with his hand in the cookie jar, as he walked into the temple, as the members of the Ninja Tribunal stared at them.

"You know the rules young one, others are not permitted to be here," remarked Shakara calmly and the Ancient One stepped forward.

"Forgive me, revered ones, but you know that I have believed that this current action is playing with rather dangerous fire," stated Ancient One and for a second, his eyes flickered towards Harry before he fixed them back towards the Ninja Tribunal, but they remained unblinking, unconcerned with the Ancient One's warning.

"We shall be the one's who worry of any ramifications that come, but right now there is little time to argue such things," stated Con as he waved his head and a mirror appeared, showing an approaching ship. "The heralds of the dark one are heading towards us right at this moment, it has already begun."

"What has already begun?" demanded Ginny but the Ninja Tribunal ignored her, causing her to reach to pull her wand out, she was beginning to lose her patience with these people but Harry grabbed her by the hand.

"Not now," muttered Harry in her ear.

"Stay here if you must, but do not presume you have any right to say what we must do to train the new acolytes, for the oncoming storm," said Shakara, as the group stood around. "Of course, if any of you wish to leave, than do so now."

Harry and Ginny exchanged looks, both realizing that they should take this opportunity, and the others seemed to have the same thing and mind, but Con held up his hand which caused them to stall.

"Remember, if you do so, do know this that you will have failed to save the lives of countless and doomed the world with your cowardice," stated Con coldly and this statement stopped everyone in their tracks. "Naturally, you all elected to stay, proving that we were not mistaken in you, at least not yet. Your training begins right now."

At that moment, the group clapped and colored amulets began to appear around the necks of Leo, Don, Raph, Mikey, and Harry. This new addition was curious indeed, but Juto turned to them, to explain the significance of the amulets now around their neck.

"The amulets will allow you to perform greater feats of magic than you could ever imagine, yes all of you have the potential to do so," stated Juto. "One obviously has a natural affinity towards this, but all of you do and these amulets will allow you to open the doors to the power, power that you will need to wield power to fight those beyond your wildest imaginings."

A library materialized in front of them, with rows and rows of several books, that stretched for several feet in every direction, as the members of the Ninja Tribunal stared upon them.

"But first, the knowledge is needed to be able to have the means to utilized the tools that are needed for success," stated Con. "Perhaps in time, this will be understood, if you are among the select few that have the mental abilities to comprehend what is above you…"

A large thunderous sound from above had caused Con to stop in his tracks. Another loud bang echoed from above.

"No, they can't have reached this location already, no, it cannot have happened, not this soon," commented Shikara and at that moment, the roof of the temple seemed to crack open, as intense heat began to fill the temple. It was like being in the inside of a pressure cooker, as the large figure that appeared to be a demonic looking dragon of sorts.

"Hayashi-Aki, a fire demon," gasped Master Splinter in recognition, as the group looked up to the imposing beast, as it growled, sending hot fireballs everywhere, forcing them to duck in every direction.

"So this is the infamous Ninja Tribunal and their Acolytes," hissed the fire demon angrily, as its eyes glowed a bright, vibrant red, before it circled around, causing a cyclone of red dust, that incinerated everything it touched, forcing the group to scatter from its attacks. Harry turned into a raven with a pop and flew upwards, in an attempt to get around the attack. At that second the raven turned to Harry, as it was on a ledge and Harry blasted an ice cold jet of water towards the demon, but it had little effect, before it dove at Harry, knocking him off his perch. Ginny rushed over and placed a cushioning charm on the ground, causing Harry's fall to be softened. "Foolish human, your little magical defenses are not a match for my power."

At that moment, the fire demon swooped around, in an instant, sending jets of fire.

"Attack, take it out!" yelled Leo, as the Turtles leap up, but the Hayashi-Aki blasted fire from its nostrils towards them, burning their weapons to a crisp, dropping them to the ground. Another blast viciously caused the Turtles to slam hard into the ground.

"Go, we shall hold off this monstrosity," stated Shakara but the fire demon just laughed and a second later, lava blasted from the ground, encasing all four of the Tribunal members when it solidified, before the fire demon swooped down, causing the temple to shake around them, causing fire to shoot out of the ground, surrounding them. Harry and Ginny attempted to douse it by magically conjuring water, but unfortunately, there was no way to even do this, as the fire closed in on them, it looked to be the end, as the fire began to close in on them.

In an instant, the Turtles, Harry, Ginny, Master Splinter, and the Ancient One was standing in the center of the temple, which was completely unharmed, as they were and the Ninja Tribunal stood, also unharmed.

"This was your first lesson, with many more to come," stated Shakara.

"All that you know about this world, about yourselves, even about reality itself, all that in more shall be challenged," stated Con mysteriously.

"Your real training begins in the morning," concluded Juto and at that point, the group walked off.

"So, just an illusion, I think," stated Mikey.

"If that was fake, I can just imagine what a real threat is going to be like," commented Leo.

"We'll deal with that when the time comes, right now, I'm curious to see exactly what else is going on, I have a feeling they have not told us everything we needed to do," concluded Harry, as they walked off as something appeared to guide them towards the chambers that they would spend the night.


	25. Chapter 25: Demons and Dragons

**Chapter Twenty Five: Demons and Dragons. **

_In a large field, Master Splinter stood gazing off in the distance towards five shadowed figures. At that moment, a demonic looking horse galloped towards the shadowed figures and as Splinter leaned in closer, he realized the figure on the horseback had a spear extended towards his sons, who were paralyzed in fear. _

"_No, get out of the way, stay away from them!" shouted Splinter as he moved forward, but the scene in front of him moved further away each second, as he watched as the figure ran his spear forward, laughing coldly, as a glowing pair of red eyes and a bright green light appeared in the distance, as one by one, he watched his sons drop to the ground. In helplessness, Splinter dropped to his knees, he tried to get towards them, but they had been pulled, out of his reach, as the figure turned its attention to Splinter and rushed the old rodent. A bright shimmer of solid gold light appeared in front of Splinter, with the rat leaning forward. The figure became corporeal giving Splinter a chance to see what exactly stood in front of him._

Before Splinter could determine what the figure looked like, his eyes snapped open, he sat in a room inside the Lap of the Gods, just finishing his meditation and looked around, he was alone, no doubt his sons had already left for the lessons that day. Despite the vague nature of certain aspects of the vision, Splinter had a good idea of what everything meant.

"What have you gotten yourselves into, my sons?" asked Master Splinter as he shook his head, talking to no one in particular. "What have you gotten yourselves into?"

With that, Splinter leaned forward, attempting to return to meditation, but uneasy imagines continued to plague the aging mutant rodent that made any attempts to undergo this relaxing process next to impossible.

In the main chamber of the Lap of the Gods, Harry, Raph, Mikey, Don, and Leo sat around, legs crossed, as the Ninja Tribunal looked at them from high above.

"The four pillars of the warrior, strength, spirit, weapons, and stealth take constant application to master," stated Shakara calmly. "Most only master one or two, but understanding of all four is crucial to applying your abilities and pushing yourself towards the limits of your potential. Few can achieve a certain level by applying all four pillars in synergy."

"Those who will prove themselves to be beyond a level of most warriors but yet many fail in their attempts to do so, because they are unwilling to properly take time to understand exactly what their potential could be," stated Con. "Total mastery one or two pillars being totally mastered is a great accomplishment, but the total mastery of all four proves true character, the one with the heart of the warrior."

Harry's eyes snapped up at recognition of those words. He heard those in relation to him a couple of times in the past and needless to say, hearing those words once again interested Harry greatly. Until he knew differently, all Harry could do was treat this as a coincidence, but still, it was extremely interesting.

"The books that you have read so far will only give you a certain grasp of the pillars, the mind needs to be applied to firmly grasp everything we can teach you," concluded Juto. "Only with time, you can excel with complete mastery. As today and every day your training continues, until the time that the ultimate darkness arrives, we shall monitor closely to gain a sense on how your abilities within the four pillars evolve. Some will crash, while others will arise. Only your minds can determine exactly which category you fall in."

Hisomi clapped his hands and the doors behind them sprung open behind the group, causing them to look over their shoulders.

"You are to report to the edge of the bridge where Hisomi will be joining you within the next hour on a very crucial lesson regarding the pillar of stealth," stated Con calmly and the Turtles and Harry made their way to their feet to obey, as they walked towards the bridge as the Ninja Tribunal instructed, as the group began to talk among themselves.

"So, did any of you get any of that?" asked Leo.

"Some of it I did, some of just raised even more questions in my mind, just like anything they tell us to be honest," replied Harry candidly. "The books seemed to be a bit hit and miss about how well they relate to what I know, some of it does seem familiar to me, from the Slytherin library, but truthfully a lot of it is very foreign. I would not be surprised if it had even been lost centuries before the founders."

Harry sighed, looking thoughtful before continuing to talk.

"Japanese and Britain magical philosophies are slightly different, the theory, how they work, what is required to get them to work, all that stuff," said Harry. "The books help a lot to bridge the differences in philosophies, but there's a lot that even I'm learning."

"Well, I get some of it, but it's just a lot to take it in," stated Don and the others nodded in agreement.

"Yeah no kidding, reading all this theory just to deliver one attack, just tell me what to smash," stated Raph. "Man, this Tribunal, they over complicate everything, all this information, my head's swimming and it's not like they make anything clear."

"Yeah, and now we have a lesson with the mighty Hisomi," remarked Mikey, as the group reached the edge of the bridge, before Mikey turned his back. "Yes, the great large dude, I am the master of stealth, the master of invisibility, but I don't need to speak a word…"

At that moment, Hisomi had appeared from the shadows and was standing behind Mikey, as Mikey was going on and on about the large, silent member of the Ninja Tribunal as he stood in the distance.

"Uh Mikey," said Harry urgently as he pointed over Mikey's shoulder towards Hisomi, but Mikey did not seem to catch onto what Harry was saying to him, continuing to talk about Hisomi.

"Oh, big guy, can disappear and clap his hands to open things, the great Hisomi, member of the Ninja Tribunal…who's standing right behind me isn't even," said Mikey gulping as he slowly turned around, seeing the large Hisomi standing right behind him, arms folded, as he peered at Mikey. "Uh, hi, Hisomi, we were just talking about you…nothing personal you see…just a joke…"

A loud smack connected with the back of Mikey's head and the Ancient One stood behind him, looking very irritable at the antics of the fun loving terrapin.

"Michelangelo, it would be prudent for you to run your mouth less and exercise your mind more," commented the Ancient One in a stern voice as he glared at Mikey, who at least had the decency to look sheepish at his antics. "Now, I am here to help Hisomi instruct you five with this lesson. Considering he has forsaken the ability to speak to completely master the ability of stealth, you may find it very difficult to understand what he expects of you. Thankfully, I have learned this and will help you as well, perhaps in time each and every one of you will understand the teachings of Hisomi on your own, without the need of words."

Hisomi nodded, before he pointed down the bridge and the group watched him, every one of them looking confused, except for Harry, who had an inkling what Hisomi wanted, because of some subtle legilimency techniques, but still he awaited the Ancient One to confirm what the large Tribunal was saying.

"To move towards mastering the pillar of step, an elementary method would be to cross the bridge without being seen or heard," explained the Ancient One and Hisomi nodded by the Ancient One's side, before he inclined his hand across the group. "Hisomi requests a volunteer to be the first individual to attempt this elementary skill."

Harry inched forward, preparing to volunteer, but the large master of stealth's eyes were not fixed on Harry, instead he turned to Mikey, before he nodded and pointed towards Mikey, who gulped, he was going to pay for his fun from earlier.

"Michalangelo, step forward towards the edge of the bridge, remember you must get across it without being seen," stated the Ancient One.

"Get across that thing without being seen, looks impossible to me, look how rickety it is," commented Raph as he looked at the bridge but in a blink of the eye, Hisomi was on the other end of the bridge and he shot back again, before he nodded towards Raph, before he motioned towards Mikey, as Mikey took a few steps forward towards the bridge, screwing his eyes shut.

"Mikey, remember, concentrate, visualize yourself moving from one end of the bridge to the other, do not let any doubt cross your mind, and focus, block everything else out," muttered Harry calmly, and his brother nodded, eyes still shut, as he concentrated as hard as possible.

"Okay, focusing, focusing," muttered Mikey and as he concentrated, the amulet wrapped around his neck began to power up. Mikey was surrounded in waves of orange light, where he threw all caution to the win and propelled himself forward, attempting to cross the bridge. For a fleeting second, Mikey thought he could have made it across the bridge with little trouble flat. Unfortunately, there was the issue of Mikey's concentration being broken that caused him to stop right in the center of the bridge and at that second, the bridge began to rumble, as something rocked it from beneath. A second impact caused Mikey to fall backwards, breathing heavily as something attempted to come at him. "What is that!"

"You have awoken the guardian underneath the bridge," stated the Ancient One in a somber tone of voice, as another rumble from underneath the bridge shoot it, as Mikey attempted to get up and get away, but from the water a large beastly figure sprung up right in front of Mikey, turning it's attention towards the one that disturbed its slumber.

Harry looked at the large dragon that had turned to face Mikey, as it snorted towards his brother. The dragon was much bigger than the Hungarian Horntail that Harry had fought in the Triwizard Tournament as it circled Mikey, as time seemed to freeze. The other three Turtles moved forward, but Harry put his hand up, prompting them to stop.

"No, you can't fight it head on, it's powerful, not even magic can pierce the skin of most dragons and this one is more powerful," said Harry, as he urgently attempted to formulate the plan, as he the dragon stalked Mikey.

"Oh man, someone do something!" shrieked Mikey, as he attempted to crawl backwards, but the dragon had swerved in behind him. Mikey breathed in and out, his easiest way of escape had been blocked and he peered over the side of the bridge, it was a long way down to the water and the dragon was not helping matters by rocking the bridge as it flapped its wings from high above. "Okay, listen, I'm really sorry for crossing your bridge, I'm sorry for waking you up, please don't eat me, forgive me, I didn't mean to, I'll be more quiet and stealthy and…"

Mikey stopped as the dragon snorted towards him, before it flew back down towards the edge of the bridge and quickly, Mikey rolled towards, while the group looked at their brother, who looked shaken up, breathing heavily, as Hisomi stood in the distance, an uncaring expression on the ninja master's face, as Mikey finally regained his bearings before he looked up towards Hisomi.

"So do I get a re-do?" asked Mikey but all this earned him was a sharp smack right to the back of the head courtesy of the Ancient One and Mikey turned towards the old master with an incredulous look on his face. "What?"

Sometime later, the Ancient One was back in the temple, where Master Splinter was sitting in the distance, attempting to deal with the uneasy thoughts that plagued her. In the background, Ginny sat, arms crossed, eyes darting at the window, but not too interested in what was happening outside. The truth was, the Ninja Tribunal seemed a bit shady to her on how evasive they were being. Granted, she knew what Harry was trying to do, in an attempt to gain information, but still Ginny did not like it one bit, after the fact they were dragged here for some great evil. At first, Ginny speculated that they were talking about Draxxor, the dangerous demon from the Realm of Darkness that battled Salazar Slytherin and the rest of the Founders, but given what Harry had told her about how they talked about this darkness, it was something else, something different, but something very powerful all the same. She wandered outside for several hours, before returning here when she suspected she had been followed. Whether it was by the Ninja Tribunal or anyone else, she could not be for sure, but Ginny sensed that it was someone that she did not trust, so she returned here immediately. When Harry returned, she would have to tell him of this.

"They had to cross that bridge, with that large water guardian underneath it!" shouted Master Splinter angrily, as he sprung up, the Ancient One taking a few steps back. "They have only been here for a short time, they are not ready for such an opponent."

"What is this water guardian?" asked Ginny calmly and the Ancient One shook his head and indeed Splinter seemed to be a bit reluctant to tell Ginny exactly what it was either, but the glare that the young woman was shooting towards the two caused no room for argument.

"It's a large dragon, that lives underneath the bridge not to far from here," commented Master Splinter and at that point, Ginny sprung up to her feet.

"They had to fight a dragon for training," said Ginny softly, in a dangerous voice and the Ancient One shook his head, before he calmly looked towards Ginny.

"No, of course not, they did not have to fight it," stated the Ancient One and Ginny relaxed slightly. "They merely only had to get past it, it's an elementary stealth maneuver employed by the Ninja Tribunal to train new Acolytes, it's perfectly…"

"ELEMENTARY, TO GET PAST A BLOODY DRAGON!" yelled Ginny, who already detested the Ninja Tribunal by the fact they had their minions attack Harry and the others, before dragging them off, before she sprung up, the floor beneath them began to shake. "I bet this thing was large, much larger than the Hungarian Horntail that Harry had to get past…and…they had to get past it…putting them in unnecessary danger…this bloody Tribunal….they have no regard for anything, anyone, don't give a damn."

Ginny began breathing heavily as she sunk back into the chair, angered beyond all words as Splinter also did not look too pleased and even the Ancient One acknowledged their anger, also having sensed some form of resentment from the others. In fact, the only one that seemed to be willing to completely put aside his anger towards the Tribunal long enough to train was Harry and even he seemed to not trust them as far as he could throw them. The Ancient One did in fact know about the Tribunal all too well and knew that they could be among the harshest taskmasters in the world.

On a mountain side, Leo, Raph, Mikey, Don, and Harry were sitting, where Shakara faced them, looking at the acolytes with slight disdain before she addressed them.

"Strength is about the mental elements as well as the physical elements, so first your mind must be trained to visualize what must be done, before it is done," stated Shakara simply, before she raised her hand up and effortlessly smashed a boulder to dust right before the eyes of the group, before she turned towards them, with a slightly superior look in her eyes. "Now, which one of you would dare attempt to emulate this feet of strength."

Naturally, Raph sprung to his feet and walked towards the boulder. Harry sat, calmly, he suspected that an advanced particle vibration would weaken the rock, allowing it to be easily smashed. Still, Raph looked at the boulder, facing it, before he reared back his arm. Raph punched the boulder with full force, before he fell backwards, clutching his arm in pain as he fell to his knees. His brothers got up to step forward, but Shakara should no sympathy, just disgust.

"Weak, pathetic, you have an aptitude for the physical strength, but you are mentally weak, once you apply your mind, then you will be able to do this rudimentary feat of strength," said Shakara briskly, before she raised her arm and effortlessly smashed the boulder into dust, as Raph nursed his injured arm, before pulling himself up. "Only then will you feel the satisfaction of victory, but until then, you will feel nothing but unbelievable agony."

Shakara paused, to ensure that all of her words sunk in to the entire group, before she continued the lesson. Needless to say, there was a lot of work to be done on the majority of this group of acolytes before they were fully ready. It was the hope that there would be time enough to completely train them, before the dark rising that they had all envisioned began.

In a dark room, surrounded by torches, the weapons master known as Juto walked forward, turning towards the Turtles and Harry, peering at them through narrowed eyes, before he turned his neck towards a large structure that looked very much like a decapitated dragon's head. The mouth sprung open and fire shot out of the throat, prompting the Turtles and Harry to take a step backward, eyes widened in awe, but Juto just turned to them with disgust.

"The Spirit Forge, maggots," said Juto.

"Shishou or not, he better lay off that maggot talk," muttered Raph to Harry, who nodded slightly in agreement by his brothers side, but if Juto heard Raph, he chose not to acknowledge him.

"You have pathetic twigs and scraps of metal, useful for fighting off insects, but against real threats, you would be crushed in a matter of seconds if this is your only line of defense, so you will require new and more powerful weaponry," stated Juto calmly. "Now, those who are worthy will find what they require from within the Spirit Forge, but I must warn you, those who are unworthy will suffer dire consequences. Now who dares step forward and be the first to try to pull a weapon from the Spirit Forge."

The group stood, unmoving, they were a bit reluctant to try their luck, truth be told and Juto just looked at them, as if he almost expected their reluctance.

"No one, well I expected as much from the insolent brats of that pathetic rodent," commented Juto and this prompted several angry glares from the quintet of ninjas, as they moved forward.

"Oh no, I did not just here him badmouthing Master Splinter like that, let me through, I'll show you how worthy I am!" shouted Raph, but Juto just looked amused at the turtle's burst of anger, before stepping to the side, allowing Raph to move towards the Spirit Forge. Quickly, Raph reached forward and sparks flew from the Spirit Forge, before he reached in and for a second, time seemed to slow down to an absolute crawl, before he pulled out a large three pronged spear like weapon. Raph looked it over, nodding approvingly

"Congratulations, warrior, you have not embarrassed yourself, now would you other maggots like to attempt to test to the Spirit Forge," prompted Juto, and at that instant, Mikey walked forward, pulling out a weapon that resembled a staff with two Kusari-Gama chains on the end. Mikey nodded approvingly at his weapon and Don reached forward into the Spirit Forge, before he pulled out a larger, thicker Bo Staff with blades on either side. Leo stepped forward and reached into the Spirit Forge, before he pulled out a large bulky sword, with a miniature dragon on the hilt. Leo struggled to hold it up, staggering around, but managed to find a way that worked after a few seconds.

The group waited with baited breath, as Harry approached the Spirit Forge. Everyone wondered what weapon their youngest brother would get, no doubt something really powerful and advanced would come out. Harry reached forward, but the fire of the Spirit Forge extinguished.

"Was that supposed to happen?" asked Don, as everyone exchanged completely baffled looks as the Spirit Forge remained immobile, but Juto did not give any hint to what he was thinking, as he turned to face the acolytes.

"All of you who chosen a weapon will learn exactly what uses they have all in due time and for some, certain uses will come instinctively," stated Juto. "All will be revealed in due time."

The group walked off, that seemed to be the Tribunal's answer to everything, 'All will be revealed in due time'. Harry looked off in the distance, wondering exactly why he did not get a weapon. Perhaps his abilities were not as strong as he thought it was.

"You know, I think that Spirit Forge thing was whacked, you really should have gotten something Harry," said Raph slowly towards Harry, in an attempt to boost his brother's spirits but Harry just shrugged indifferently, as the others looked at him.

"Harry, are you okay?" asked Leo as he leaned forward towards his youngest brother but Harry just nodded his head calmly.

"Fine Leo, everything is just fine," said Harry in a tone of voice that he hoped came across as indifferent, but there were still some weird things going on. As an actual wizard, a part of Harry did in fact suspect that he would grasp the teachings of the Tribunal better than his brothers. However, there were a couple of things that pointed against that, the amulets had caused waves of magical energy to flow through them. Certainly, Harry had felt something coursing from the amulet, but the fact that he had not seen anything was driving him up a wall. The latest misadventure with the Spirit Forge and it not granting Harry a weapon also was a small hit to Harry's ego, something that he vowed to try his hardest to block it out of his mind, not to allow it to pollute his training.

Con faced the group as they sat around in a circle, nodding towards them.

"Physical abilities are the most useless, while mental strength is key from completely mastering your spirit form," lectured Con, as he faced the group. "On the highest plane of concentration, your spirit will manifest into a physical, corporeal form that can be utilized for battle and only the most powerful manifest into a dragon, signaling a ferocious and vicious, efficient fighter."

The group nodded, as Con paced back and forth, before he continued his lecture.

"Now those even with the smallest amount of mental strength can manifest a slight projection of their spirit form, but more mental concentration is required for it to project a distinguishable manifestation," explained Con. "Now, clear your minds of all thought and concentration, concentrate in bring your inner spirit forms and if you train your minds sufficiently, they will come up."

At that moment, the group screwed their eyes shut and at the second, Harry began to illuminate a blinding shade of gold. Magical energy swirled around him, before it shot up into the air, and held for a brief second, but before Con could get a good luck at it, Harry collapsed to the ground, feeling rather dazed and dizzy.

"Impressive, no doubt you have the potential for something powerful, but it will take a bit more mental strength to completely manifest, without exhausting yourself," commented Con in a mysterious voice as the group seemed a bit more confused by these words, but at that moment, the other three Ninja Tribunal members moved forward, turning to Con.

"One of the artifacts has been sighted, it's being guarded right next to a river not far from here," informed Shakara and Con nodded in agreement, as the Turtles and Harry looked positively baffled at what was going on, but knew better than to ask.

"We should send the Acolytes to retrieve the artifact, it would be a prudent way to test the skills they have been taught so far," suggested Juto and the others nodded in agreement, before Shakara turned towards them.

"You five Acolytes will retrieve a very important item to the threat we are facing, by a river on the other side of the village," stated Shakara. "There you will find a cask, but be warned, the guards will not be willing to part with it easily, you will need to apply everything that you have learned to properly retrieve the artifact."

"Go forth now and retrieve the cask, the fate of the world rests on it," ordered Con as he extended one arm forward curtly, and thus the Turtles picked up their weapons, with Harry leading the way, as the moved across the village to the river.

"Man those guys are a right ray of sunshine, aren't they?" asked Mikey as they moved forward, still adjusting to the sheer weight of their new weapons, it was much tougher to lug these around then the weapons they were used to.

"Man, I thought we here to train about this mysterious threat, not that anyone's exactly clued us in on what it was, but here we are, playing a group of errand boys," said Raph moodily.

"Maybe if we retrieve this cask, they'll be more willing to tell us what's going on here," said Don but Raph had a look on his face that indicated he very much doubted that the Ninja Tribunal would even come close to letting them in on anything any time soon, as they walked forward, but they stop suddenly.

"I think this might be the place," remarked Leo and Harry peered out, nodding, before he turned to the others.

"Good assumption, considering the large amount of Kappas that around that rock and look, that must be the cask," remarked Harry, as he peered out to see what seemed to be dozens of Japanese water demons, a creature that seemed to be overlooked as a threat as far as dark creatures were concerned, but could be more trouble then they are worth, especially when they were near a large amount of water.

"So any ideas on how to get across Harry?" asked Leo hopefully and Harry looked forward, but Mikey looked thoughtful.

"Leave it to me, I can get across without them seeing me and back with the cask," remarked Mikey and before anyone could say any differently, Mikey screwed up his eyes in concentration, with large spirals of orange magical energy circling around Mikey, before he rushed forward, through the water, towards the rock where the cask laid. The group looked up, as Mikey climbed onto the rock. Quickly, he lifted up the cask, but this minor act blocked his concentration, causing Mikey to return to normal and the Kappa looked up, before they turned their attention towards Mikey.

"MIKEY GET OUT OF THERE, NOW!" yelled Leo urgently, but the Kappa had moved towards Mikey and Mikey attempted to leap forward, but the Kappa grabbed him by the ankles. Squirming, Mikey attempted to pull his way through, which prompted the others to rush into the water, at the Kappa and swing towards the Kappa, but just went the Kappa were about to get hit, they twisted their forms before they traveled through the water.

"Man, you can't even touch these things," remarked Raph as he jabbed his weapon towards the Kappa but the dark creature moved through the water, before it came right behind Raph, thumping him across the back of the head, before Raph spun around, but two more shut from behind him. Harry rushed forward, sending jets of orange light towards them, but the Kappa managed to move back through the water, evading the attacks of the group, as they continued to move through the water.

"It's difficult to beat them when they are in the water," grunted Harry as he moved forward, desperately attempting to put a Kappa out but the Kappa dove into the water. Several advanced on Mikey, but Harry flicked his wrist, causing waves of fire to blast towards the Kappa. The water demons scattered, splashing into the water, before coming up at strategic points, attempting to move through, as the others moved through.

"Surely there's something you could do to isolate them from the water," suggested Don desperately and Harry dove forward, forcing a pair of Kappa away from Leo.

"An evaporating charm could be done, but with the amount of water here, it could take hours," remarked Harry feebly, as the Kappa attempted to grab his arm, but Harry sent a magically simulated electrical pulse, knocking the Kappa back, forcing him to retreat back to the water with a splash.

"Surely something could be done," pleaded Leo, as the Kappa grabbed a hold of Leo's new weapon. Leo slammed the Kappa down, as a small pulse of magical energy flew through the water, causing the water level to be dropped.

"Hold that thought," said Harry, as he blasted the Kappa away, before he rushed forward and grabbed the weapon right from Leo. "Sorry Leo, but I'm going to have to borrow this."

Harry swung the sword down, causing a high impact evaporation charm to pulse from his body, through the sword, causing the water to dry up among them. The army of Kappa moved desperately towards the few remaining puddles, but it was not enough water for them to sustain their strength, so they collapsed to the ground. Harry pushed the sword back towards Leo, before collapsing down across the dried river floor, breathing heavily.

"HARRY!" shouted the Turtles in unison, as they saw the fact that Harry could barely move.

"Only put a time delay charm….water will come back in about a day….get the cask…" breathed Harry, as Mikey and Raph pulled Harry up to his feet, with Harry's legs dragging behind him, as they dragged him off, trying to get Harry to safety to the Lap of the Gods, where he could rest, as Don took the cask, before the group walked back to the Lap of the Gods.

When the reached the temple, Ginny burst out the front entrances, as she saw the state that Harry was in, looking absolutely worried, as she kneeled down right beside Harry as his brothers sat down, as Master Splinter and the Ancient One walked out as well.

"Harry, are you okay?" asked Ginny as her bottom lip trembled as Harry just feebly looked up at her with his green eyes and a strained smile.

"Fine Ginny, I'll live," said Harry weakly, but he felt absolutely drained from having evaporated all of that water with the weapon.

"What has happened?" demanded Master Splinter.

"Fought Kappa….dozens of them…to get artifact," said Harry. "I'll be fine…"

"You could have died!" yelled Ginny as she looked at the Tribunal with an accusing look in her eye, but none of them seemed all that concerned.

"That matters little, as he should have been left, if it could have jeopardized the cask," stated Con coldly and Ginny reached for her wand, shaking angrily, but Harry gripped her arm firmly, as Shakara calmly snatched the cask from Don's hand, before stepping back.

"Yet, you jeopardized the lives of my sons, without telling them the entire story of why they were brought here," countered Master Splinter and everyone looked towards the Tribunal.

"Three artifacts that are dear to the dark threat that you may yet face cannot be reunited, this was one of the artifacts, another is still out there, and a third has been in our possession for quite some time," said Con calmly, as he opened the top of the cask. "Perhaps this will convince of the danger that you are facing."

The group peered forward, and gasped in surprise as the cask opened to reveal a very familiar looking helmet, the helmet of the Shredder!


	26. Chapter 26: Legend of the Five Dragons

**Chapter Twenty Six: The Legend of the Five Dragons**

Out on the ocean, a large ship approached the same island that had housed the Lap of the Gods. On the ship were the five heralds of the entity that they had declared to be the one true Shredder, the recently freed Foot Mystics. Their ship approached the island, landing off the shore and the Foot Mystics evacuated the ship, looking from side to side as they exited, before the ship vanished, leaving no trace that they had arrived from any onlookers.

"At last brother mystics we have arrived, the first artifact is in our grasp," stated the fire mystic, as they walked forward, the river that their Kappa minions were set to guard the cask was not far from here but the sight they saw was the river halfway evaporated, as several Kappa laying, groaning on the ground, looking severely weakened and battered. As they moved forward, the cask was gone. "What not here?"

The Heralds moved forward, before they peered down at one of the Kappa, who attempted to get up, but the metal mystic pinned him to the ground, causing him to struggle.

"What is the meaning of this, where is the cask?" demanded the fire mystic harshly to the demon on the ground, who groaned, before it craned its head slightly, deciding to launch into the explanation.

"Tribunal…new Acolytes….they have it…." gasped the Kappa, as the five mystics looked around with obvious distaste as their fears were confirmed.

"You had one job, to protect the cask," remarked the fire mystic coldly, but the Kappa looked up, with a pleading expression in its eyes, but the Heralds held no sympathy.

"But…they fought like demons," pleaded the Kappa and this statement did not win him any favor, as the Heralds looked down at the Kappa with disgust.

"You are demons, demons that have failed at the simplest task," stated the fire mystic as each of the heralds raised their staffs. "The supreme master we seek to revive accepts no failure, and neither do we."

"Please, have mercy," begged the Kappa but the heralds showed none, as their staffs were powered up, before a large burst of magical energy vaporized their failed minions and a second later, the heralds had transported themselves out, leaving nothing but the ash of their army of Kappa behind and an unsettling wind that blew in the distance, rattling the leaves long after the heralds were long departed from that area.

In the chambers of the Lap of the Gods, Harry sat towards the back of the room, with Ginny sitting next to him, lazily leaning against his shoulder. His brothers were off in the distance, trying to sleep on the cots but failing, while Master Splinter and the Ancient One were in the center of the room, in meditation. From the battle a few hours ago, physically, Harry felt fine, mentally was another thing all together. Seeing that particular helmet spooked Harry and thus raised even more questions, than the Tribunal's explanation answered. The stirring of his brothers prompted Harry to pull himself up, with Ginny quietly following, as the Turtles all sat up on their cots, all wearing distressed looks on their face.

"Couldn't sleep either could you?" asked Harry quietly as his brothers nodded in affirming.

"Yeah, we figure it's pretty much the same reason we can't either, that helmet's still pretty fresh," said Ginny. "I don't get it, Harry defeated him, put him down, made sure that the body could not be retrieved."

"No Ginny, something tells me that this is different," said Harry slowly, as he looked at the haunted looks that were placed on the faces of the others, he had to admit they looked exactly how he felt. "Our resident fugitive Utrom might not have been the first person to hold the mantle of the Shredder…"

"Well, whoever it is, the Tribunal seemed adamant about putting it down," offered Don. "The way they go on about it, you would think that this dark threat has the power to end all of humanity as they know it."

"Yes, they expect us to be able to be good enough to fight it!" exclaimed Mikey in an horrified tone, as he rocked back and forth, the sight of that helmet also having it's effect on the normally fun loving terrapin, but the others shot Mikey a look.

"Keep it down Mikey, or you'll wake up the old guys," said Raph as he craned his neck towards the Ancient One and Master Splinter, who were both sitting in the center of the room, not having moved from their current positions in quite some time.

"Raph, they're not sleeping, they're meditating," corrected Leo and Raph just shot him an incredulous look, before Leo sighed, before regarding his brother seriously. "Trust me, there's a difference."

On the floor, Splinter began to stir, being unable to sit still, as the mutated rodent began breathing heavily, as he twisted and turned, as he sat on the ground, as the group's attention was caught by Splinter's movements.

"No….no…can't let this happen…not again," muttered Splinter. "Not again, did not want this for them, not now, not ever, they should not have been exposed to this….can't allow them to cost me…not again…"

"Splinter-San, I cannot meditate with your constant muttering and squirming," admonished the Ancient One, before pausing and adding in a thoughtful voice. "Well that and the fact that my backside has fallen asleep."

"Master Splinter, what do you mean by not again?" asked Leo slowly and reluctantly, as Splinter's eyes open, snapping to look at them all, wildly, before he settled down. "What are you talking about?"

Splinter sighed, he had looked much older than any of them remembered, before he had taken a deep breath, before he explained the cause of his mutterings.

"Some time ago, my Master Yoshi went to the Ninja Tribunal on behalf of the Utroms for protection against the Shredder," stated Master Splinter calmly, but his eyes held disdain when he had talked about the Ninja Tribunal.

_Hamato Yoshi, along with the Ancient One walked forward deep into the Lap of the Gods, towards the Ninja Tribunal, who stood in front of them, dressed in full armor, as they peered down the duo with disinterest. _

"_Honored ones, I beg you for assistance, I feel it would be beneficial for all parties if you help the Utroms combat the one currently holding the mantle of the Shredder," remarked Yoshi. "Please, you must…"_

"_This insignificant alien bug is of no concern to the Ninja Tribunal," interrupted Shakara coldly, as the group just fixed their glares at the Ancient One and Yoshi unblinkingly. . "He is merely just a parasite attempting to live off the reputation of one who has power that he can not even dream of using, so we will deny your attempts for assistance against him."_

"_The Ninja Tribunal has much greater objectives in mind than playing protectors for a stranded alien race," added Juto in an indifferent voice. "This is a problem that they will have to deal with on their own and without our assistance. You may depart and do not come back."_

"_You may be surprised with what this Shredder is capable of, he might even one day channel the power of the one you all fear returning," warned Yoshi, attempting to get the members of the Ninja Tribunal to see some amount of reason, but it was evident by their demeanors that they did not believe Yoshi's warning one bit and in fact regarded the fact that he thought the fugitive Utrom was a threat as laughable. _

"_Just merely a diversion, distracting us from the real threat, we must remain vigilante," said Con calmly. "Now be gone, you are dismissed."_

"Needless to say, the Ninja Tribunal did not here by Master Yoshi's warnings, and thus, he was one of the countless across the universe that was brutally slain by the Utrom version of the Shredder," stated Master Splinter. "Master Yoshi warned them of his danger, but they did not listen to his warnings about the danger that the Shredder posed, choosing to focus on what the perceived to be as the true, original Shredder instead."

"Now Splinter-San, the Ninja Tribunal sees a larger picture than we do," stated the Ancient One, but he did not seem all that sure at what he was saying. "At least I hope they do."

"Wait a minute, what's all this about a real Shredder, the Utrom Shredder, what are you talking about?" asked Mikey who looked befuddled, before he shook his head, attempting to clear the confusion he was getting from what was being said.

"Yeah, I agree with Mikey, how many Shredders are there?" prompted Raph and the others crowded around the Ancient One and Master Splinter, who exchanged looks, before Splinter sighed.

"Now, keep in mind this is only a story that I know only small parts of, in fact much if is a mystery to everyone but four individuals that reside here," commented Master Splinter. "The original Shredder lived long ago, but those who have heard the story regard this entity that held the mantel of the Shredder as one of the greatest evils to ever live."

"No one quite knows what foul pit of despair the original Shredder sprung out of, but one day, in the third century in Japan, the Shredder, a vicious and quite powerful tengu demon popped out to terrorize the citizens of Japan," continued the Ancient One.

_Several villagers ran in terror, as a thunderous boom echoed through the village. A ten foot tengu thundered down the village, breathing green fire. The impact incinerated everything it touched, as the tengu rampaged throughout the village. A brave few attempted to stop it, but a large wave of light knocked all attempts back, before the tengu continued on its rampage, preparing to turn the entire country into his own personal dark paradise. The tengu continued through its march as the emperor looked down at the village from his palace. The beast was getting closer, he needed to find warriors that would be able to take it down and stop its path of destruction._

"The entire country was thrown into chaos, but the emperor would not bend down to the will of the tengu," narrated the Ancient One. "Therefore, he searched quickly for the best warriors in the country, masters of their art. Warriors that would be adept to saving the country from the menace of the tengu and in fact, you have already met four of the five warriors that were elected by the emperor to deal with the tengu menacing Japan."

The Ancient One paused, for obvious dramatic effect, as the others waited for him to continue the story with baited breath. The aged master took a deep breath, before he continued his story.

"Shakara, Hisomi, Con, and Juto, the members of what you now know as the Ninja Tribunal were four of the five that were chosen by the emperor to try and take down the tengu," explained the Ancient One. "However, there was a fifth warrior, one that may have been the best of them all. His name should be one that is very familiar to you. He was Oroku Saki."

Looks were exchanged, as they heard the name of the human alias of the vile Utrom Ch'rell, that the fugitive used to make himself come across as a legitimate business man and now it appeared that the Utrom had used an identity that had a basis in reality, even if it was very long ago.

_The tengu continued to menace the village, as the approaching sound of horses could be heard in the distance. On the horses, complete with weaponry, were the five warriors. Turning towards them, tengu snorts in distaste, before it shoots green light from its eyes towards the warriors, but they scattered. The impact from the tengu's assault had charred the ground, before the warriors leapt up and rushed the tengu, ducking under the attacks, before Shakara sliced at it with a sword. The tengu was backed off, as Hisomi was behind it, twisting around the tengu, allowing Juto to throw several daggers at the tengu, but the tengu deflected it with a blast of light, knocking them backwards. Hisomi and Shakara was knocked to the ground by the impact, crashing hard and Con moved in for the attack, but the Tengu dropped him to the ground. The tengu looked up to a whooshing above his head and Saki brought down the blade across the top of the head. The tengu was backed off and attempted to go after Saki, but Saki ducked and another shot, as the other four warriors circled in around the tengu, wearing it down with a variety of attacks._

"Despite the power of the tengu, all five warriors fought bravely, and slowly, but surely, the tengu began to falter, its desperation becoming evident because of the carelessness of its attacks," said Master Splinter.

"Above all else, Saki's attacks were the most ruthless of them all," commented the Ancient One. "All five warriors played their part, but it was Saki who played the largest part in dropping the tengu after its assault."

_The four warriors stepped back, allowing Saki to spring up and a thunderous kick dropped the tengu to the ground. Saki pulled out a large spear from behind his back, as the tengu was on its back, as the other warriors looked on, as Saki raised his weapon high over his head._

"_I am Oroku Saki, demon, know that name well, because it will be the name of your executioner," declared Saki firmly, as he held the weapon high over his head, with the demon on the ground, offering no resistance, before Saki plunged the blade down right into the heart of the demon. The demon went limp, apparently defeated, as the body laid motionless with Saki slowly stepping back, with the other four warriors nodding approvingly, as they stepped back from the lifeless body. _

"The five defeated the tengu and were known throughout the country as heroes," said Master Splinter. "They were invited to a special ceremony by the emperor of Japan, to honor their victory over the tengu. The five warriors received the three toed sign of the dragon, the highest honor that could be given in this time period. As a result, the group would be named the Five Dragons."

"However, the terror was far from over for everyone, unfortunately, the battle involving Saki and the tengu had been fought on more than the physical plane," stated the Ancient One

_As Saki raised his blade over his head, the tengu looked up towards him, with a calculating look etched into its eyes. _

"_I am Oroku Saki, demon, known that name well, because it is the name of your executioner," stated Saki, as he held the spear high over his head. _

"_I sense great potential within you warrior," stated the tengu. "Let me into your heart, your soul, and together we can have all, rule all, just allow me in and together, we will show these insects true power."_

_A second of indecision with Saki, as he had the spear, contemplating the demon's words and accepting them, showing slight weakness, before the tengu's essence swirled into Saki, just as the blade was impacted right into the heart of the tengu, rendering it dead from the point of view of the other watching warriors. _

"So, while Saki delivered the crushing, final blow, it was only to the empty vessel, the tengu had already made its mark of Saki, and had transported its essence into Saki's body," said the Ancient One. "As a result, the essence of one of the greatest evils to exist now flowed within the skilled form of Oroku Saki, combining the raw power with skill to make an extremely dangerous enemy for all that stood in his way."

_Oroku Saki stood on the edge of a mountain, overlooking a village, as red magical energy swirled around his eyes, as he reared his head back and laughed coldly, before he raised his hands up, causing several clammy hands to burst from the ground below. Inferi, rose from the ground, and began to march forward towards the village. Several screams were heard, as a small child was grabbed by two of the undead minions, before he was dragged off into the distance. Several others attempted to run, as Saki stood atop from high above, laughing coldly at the chaos, as his undead minions continued to drag off the citizens of the village, as blood dripped to the ground. _

_In the distance, the gallop of horses indicated the arrival of an army. Crossbows were aimed and several razor sharp arrows were shot up towards Saki, but Saki calmly waved his hand. The arrows crumbled to dust in mid air and large vines burst out of the ground, wrapping around the arms and legs of those who fired at upon them. Several desperate screams and attempts to get through were in vain, as they were yanked through the soil to the ground below. Seconds later, Saki waved his hands, and the men burst back to the ground, with pale white skin, glowing red eyes, laughing madly as the same individuals who attempted to protect them were now terrorizing the villagers, grabbing the villagers, and pulling them off into the distance. _

"Oroku Saki became the most feared warlord in all of Japan, amassing an army of undead warriors and ninjas that he had dubbed the Foot," narrated the Ancient One.

"His name was spoken in whispers by all and the name they whispered was the Shredder," added Master Splinter seriously. "This combined entity was extremely powerful, the likes of which that could not be put down, despite the best efforts of everyone to stall its efforts."

"All who went against the Shredder were destroyed one by one, leaving a path of destruction through all of Japan and essential, the entire country was plunged into a dark chaos, ruled only by one entity," stated the Ancient One slowly, as the others listened closely, enriched in the tale that was being told. "Now, the other four warriors had fled the country shortly after they found out that the tengu had merged with Saki. They realized, despite their great abilities, there would be no way for them to defeat the combined entity at that current skill level, so it was time to broaden their powers. They traveled the world, seeking out mystic knowledge among the greatest masters in their time, broadening their knowledge and their power."

"After several years of training, they had returned to find Japan completely under the rule of the Shredder, but now they were ready, to return and face off against the one that not too long ago they fought alongside," said Master Splinter.

_The Shredder sat in a large throne room in a palace, as his army patrolled the villages all across the company, making sure the populace understand his power and respected that control. At that point, the doors right in front of him began to crack slightly, causing the Shredder to stand up, a curious expression etched upon his face. Before the tengu powered warlord could even take a few steps forward, the quartet of Shakara, Con, Juto, and Hisomi all burst through the doors, weapons drawn, as they stared towards the one that was now their enemy, ready for anything he would throw at them. _

"_Ah, my old associates, I was wondering when you would be foolish enough to stop me," said the Shredder casually, as if their appearance only served to be a minor distraction to his overall rule. "I do have great respect for each and every one of you as warriors, so I will offer you the chance to join me and have a taste of the great power that I have accumulated. It would be such a waste of your talents to oppose me, when it is only a formality that you will be crushed."_

_The members of the future Ninja Tribunal were not to be swayed by the Shredder's offer but rather, they moved around him, circling the tengu, before they rushed in for the attack. Shredder's hands were illuminated, before he shot bolts of green light in every direction towards the four warriors. They were prepared for this lethal assault, as metal shields appeared from them. The spells were deflected by at the Shredder, but the tengu cancelled them, before he rose up above them, eyes glowing red, as pure black dark magical energy swirled around his form. _

"_If you wish to oppose me, then you have sealed your fates," said Shredder curtly, as clouds of yellow acid conjured out of the air, before they splashed down towards the Tribunal, who scattered in all directions. The acid splashed down to the ground, burning large holes where they had once stood. Several chains shot out, wrapping around the arms of the Shredder, pulling him to the ground, where Hisomi dodged behind Shredder, holding him in place, for Shakara to rush forward and blast the Shredder with a punch, but Shredder flipped Hisomi to the ground, before he sprung up. Several spectral birds shot out, diving towards the Shredder with razor sharp beaks, but Shredder closed his hand, causing the conjured sprits from Con to go to the ground, before Shredder waved towards the ground, with large spiked vines erupting from the floor. The vines began to wrap around his four adversaries, but they were ready, slicing into the vines, freeing themselves, before they burst towards the Shredder, shooting four high powered blasts of magic towards the tengu. Shredder was blasted directly through the wall, and for a second, they thought that assault would be enough to put their enemy down. _

_The glory was only momentary, as a loud thunderous growl echoed, as the warriors rushed forward, looking at the fallen form of the Shredder. A curtain of black light began to surround their dangerous adversary, the limbs extending and soon, a larger foe began to face the. The foe was a large dragon, rough skin as black as the night sky, sharp claws that could rip through pretty much anything effortlessly, razor sharp fangs, and glowing red eyes that radiated intense magical energy. The dragon rose up, taking a deep breath, before breathing hot flames towards the tribunal members. A cyclone of water just barely managed to fight the flames, but the dragon flapped its winds, sending gusts of wind towards the four warriors. They were knocked down to the ground, as the dragon dove down, taking a cottage in its jaws, before it flung it towards the tribunal. A cutting yellow light passed through the cottage, ripping it into pieces, as they faced the dangerous beast, as it breathed even more fire. It appeared that there was no way to stop their dangerous foe. The Shredder was far more powerful than any of them could have ever imagined. _

"All did appear to seem lost, but the four warriors would not under any circumstances give up, they would continue fighting to the very end," stated Master Splinter.

"Yet, despite all this, despite the power of the Shredder's dragon form, the four warriors had one final trick up their sleeve, something that they did not fully master, but had come close," said the Ancient One. "It was do or die for them, they had to find a way to unleash their own forms, because it was the only thing powerful enough that would even hope to help them contain the darkness that was the Shredder."

_The four members of the future Ninja Tribunal were now on the ground, as the Shredder, in his dragon form, circled around them, looking angry at the games they were playing. The dragon dove down, breathing fire from its nostrils and mouth, it would make them all pay for spurning him, for disrespecting his power. In a flash of pure white light, the dragon was stalled in its, tracks, backing off, growling madly, as it was backed off, flapping its wings, and when the light disappeared, four more dragons had surrounded it. The Shredder was not impressed by what he deemed to be nothing but insignificant little lizards. He flew up high above the ground and breathed black flames towards one of his opponents. Four more bursts of fire shot right back at the Shredders attempt, as it now boiled down to whose will was stronger, the Shredder's or the collective will of the Tribunal. Both enemies pushed their attacks back and forth, the Shredder's eyes widening, with the human intelligence of Saki guiding the sheer brute strength of the tengu. _

_After some anxious moments from the four warriors, the Shredder was pushed backwards. He rose up to his full size, growling, before several bolts of fire shot wildly at his enemies. They scattered, before they circled the Shredder, forcing him to chase them, stretch his power, and this only served to anger the Shredder even more. He blasted himself forward, heating up the air as he breathed fire, gaining a full head of steam. These annoyances would pay. Bursts of fire shot but all four warriors had maneuvered themselves right behind the Shredder. Four blurs shot towards the Shredder, high impact magical energy, amplified by the sheer size of the dragons connected right to the beasts. A loud anguished growl echoed as the Shredder was pushed right down towards the ground, his wings shrinking as the future Tribunal continued to push all of their power. They had to push him back into a more humane form, not matter what the cost. Shredder's fangs began to shrunk, as the transference into the dragon reversed, the wings completely disappearing, with the Shredder grounded. _

"_No, you cannot defeat me, I will crush you foolish lizards!" roared the Shredder in a deep voice but more magical energy pushed down on Shredder. A sound escaped his body that alternated between a shriek and a deep growl, as the skin turned more human, as Shredder shrank from his massive size, back to his original ability. Before the Shredder could find a way to regain his bearings, the four warriors, now back as humans, placed a very powerful stasis field around him. _

"The four dragons managed, through sheer determination and a bit of luck, to defeat the Shredder, at least temporary," narrated the Ancient One. "Despite the fact that the Shredder was easily contained, he was much too powerful for them to completely destroy, so the only measure that they could take against him was containment."

_The eyes of the Shredder opened and it took him seconds to realize what had happened. The helmet had been removed from his head, along with the gauntlet on his wrist, as he laid inside an open coffin. He peered up and attempted to twist himself loose from his confinement but much to his displeasure, he found himself unable to move, as Shakara, Con, Juto, and Hisomi hoisted up a large concrete lid over towards the Shredder, who just peered up with anger at his former associates, as he struggled free. _

"_You will remain here on day, demon, until we find a way to sufficiently dispose of you," said Con but the Shredder just looked at the warrior with hatred radiating from his eyes. _

"_None of you have the power to stop me, I will get out of here and when I do, you will all feel my wrath!" warned the Shredder, as the concrete lid was slid into the top of the coffin, as it was fused to the top. Several loud thumps were heard, before the four surrounded the coffin, before they blasted it with a high impact stasis charm. A blue light enveloped the coffin for a few seconds, before it remained still, as the helmet and gauntlet laid on the ground. _

"From that moment of time, forward, the Ninja Tribunal has kept a constant guard over the Shredder's body, helmet, and gauntlet, a never ending vigil that has lasted centuries, never letting up, with the gift or rather curse, of immortality that they had received during their travels around the world" concluded the Ancient One.

"Man, that's a long time," said Mikey, as the others nodded in agreement and in awe. Despite what they thought of the Ninja Tribunal, it was still rather impressive that they would keep over the three artifacts.

"It had to have been done, as if those three artifacts were ever reunited, that would mean the return of the Shredder," commented Splinter. "It is safe to say that death and destruction would follow soon there after, as they only just barely managed to defeat the Shredder the first time around. A second time, they might not have had the same luck. Since that time, they have recruited many, training them under the art of these ninjitsu, acolytes as they have been known, in the event that the day that the original Shredder is resurrected, a certainty that is becoming more of a reality by each passing day."

"Yes, I can see where they are going now, Ch'rell must have heard about what the tengu did, so he fashioned the Utrom exosuit to resemble the Shredder's armor, in a way to easily recruit ninjas and reform the Foot," concluded Harry. "The Sword of Tengu may have also partially been created as a tool to convince his followers of his status as the Shredder, using the alien technology to simulate magic."

"Yes, and the fact that the fugitive Utrom Shredder was a formidable adversary in his own right, made the hoax a bit more realistic as well," added Ginny with a nod. "And now, it looks like someone's trying to bring him back."

"Yes, and we may be the only hope," said Mikey grimly. "I wonder if there I still time to go home."

"We have to do everything we can to help stop the Shredder from being resurrected, the fate of the world rests in our hands," concluded Leo. "Now, I would suggest we try and get some sleep, as I have a feeling the Ninja Tribunal is not going to let up anytime soon."


	27. Chapter 27: The Beginning of the End

**Chapter Twenty Seven: The Beginning of the End:**

In a temple, the five heralds of the Shredder stood around a swirling pool inside a temple with an opened roof. They peered high above to the sky outside, through their mystic energies they saw omens of events that were still to come.

"It is written in the skies, the five shall undo the chains of time and free the dark one," declared the fire foot mystic in a wicked, devious voice, as he looked up.

"And we are the five," added the water mystic in an equally devious voice. "We shall free the master"

"Raise him from his captivity so he can unleash chaos upon the world," continued the metal mystic.

"Truly, the end will be near for all," said the earth mystic with a devious glint in his eyes.

"For it begins tonight," concluded the wind mystic, as a swirling vortex of magical energy appeared in the temple, before the five heralds disappeared from sight, preparing their schemes to bring forth the Shredder. The world would not know what hit them.

Around this time, a ship moved through the ocean, heavy waters splashing against it, as it returned to the Lap of the Gods. On the ship, the weary forms of the Turtles and Harry stood, leaning against, gathered around a large wooden box, which contained another artifact, the gauntlet of the Shredder.

"I hope the Ninja Tribunal appreciates what we went through to get this thing," grumbled Raph, as he looked at it. "The guards weren't all too willing to give it up without a fight."

"No kidding, I'm going to be feeling that thing smashing me into those rocks for a long time," added Mikey, as he leaned against the side of the ship, wincing as he favored his injured ribs. "Still, at least the Tribunal will have all three artifacts now, they can safely guard them, this is over right?"

Harry turned himself slightly, looking out to the sky. He wondered if the artifacts would have been much better off spread out and not in one place. It would be much more difficult to consolidate them together to resurrect the Shredder. Yet the Tribunal was adamant about having the Turtles and Harry go forth and collect them. Now the helmet was back in the possession of the Lap of the Gods, and soon the gauntlet would be as well. Still, in the back of his mind, Harry feared that the Tribunal was making a mistake or perhaps they had some grander scheme in mind with the artifacts now in one place. Despite the role they had played in teaching Harry enough that he had a better control over his mystical abilities, something about them seemed less than trustworthy to Harry. Perhaps he was just being paranoid, but he doubted it very much.

"Guys, we're here," announced Leo, as he peered out and the Ninja Tribunal, along with Master Splinter, the Ancient One, and Ginny were awaiting their return on the edge of the Lap of the Gods.

"Hand over the artifact," said Con shortly and Don reached up, handed the box towards Con, who calmly took it. "At last, all three of the artifacts are in one place and safe from the heralds of the Shredder."

"We should take this artifact inside, immediately," said Shakara. "I have sensed great forces of darkness in the air all day, it is very unwise to linger outside, especially of the heralds are on the move once again."

"Yes, that would be obvious, but first we must take the Acolytes down to the third artifact, in the off chance that an attack occurs and they are the only one's in a position to escape with the Acolytes," said Juto and Shakara looked at him like he had lost his mind. "Yes, I know of the risks, but it is an even heavier risk to not have the coffin be saved should an attack occur."

"A prudent suggest, Hisomi lead them downwards, while we take the artifact inside," said Con with a nod, before Hisomi lead the way, with The Turtles, Harry, Ginny, Master Splinter, and the Ancient One following them. In the back, Splinter and the Ancient One had calculating looks on their face, allowing the others to move slightly ahead, as Hisomi lead the way down a winding set of stairs, all the way towards the coffin containing the body of the Shredder. It was a long trip, deep below the Lap of the God temple itself, to keep the main and most dangerous artifact safe from those who would use it for their own devious means.

Shakara followed Con and Juto into the temple, where Con opened the door, the wooden box containing the gauntlet tucked underneath his arm.

"I still am rather reluctant to agree that it was a good idea for the acolytes to know the location of the body," said Shakara. "Granted they have much improved, but still, it is deep, I doubt that even the most powerful magic could penetrate the protections without our assistance. And more knowing about the location would do more help than good…"

"It is just an extra precaution, you can never be too careful," argued Con shortly, as he moved forward, towards another room, but Shakara stopped. Loud moaning sounds could be heard from the other side of the door, and she stepped to the side investigation, truthfully the behavior of Con and Juto had been rather peculiar, even for them and she pushed the door open, eyes widening at the sight she saw as she reached the inside of the room.

On the wall hung Juto, pinned up by the sleeves of his robes by daggers, blood dripping to the ground and right next to him, Con was just slightly stirring, as he looked up at Shakara. On the floor laid the battered forms of Master Splinter and the Ancient One.

"The heralds are here…" muttered Con, as he attempted to pull himself to his feet, but the door in front of them burst open, to reveal the cackling form of the wind mystic. The herald blasted a large gust of wind towards Shakara, who blocked it, but the form of the imposter Con moved his way in, dropping his cover to reveal that he was in fact the earth mystic. He jammed his staff down into the ground and a miniature earthquake erupted, causing Shakara to have to leap out of the way, but a large burst of rock struck her full on, dropping her to the ground, as the form of the imposter Juto appeared from behind, skin melting to reveal the fire mystic, as he held up the cask, containing the helmet of the Shredder.

"Insolent Ninja Tribunal, you have done the work for us and now one final artifact before we have all we need to resurrect the master," thundered the fire mystic triumphantly, as his other two fellow mystics made their way forward. Shakara rushed forward, but the earth mystic raised his arm in the air. A large, thick rock wall erupted from the ground, sealing the nearest exit, and allowing the three heralds to make there way down towards the chambers below to join the others.

Con pulled himself to a standing position, shaking the mental cobwebs loose, before he reached over and freed Juto from his predicament. The injured Ninja Tribunal member staggered, wounded, but an intense look etched on his face, as Master Splinter and the Ancient One pulled themselves up, looking battered and quite bruised.

"Come, we go around the long way, the acolytes and Hisomi are walking into a trap as we speak," said Con and they moved towards the back entrance, as there was more than one way to get into the chambers below ground, even if this way would take much longer. It was the hope that the training they gave would see their acolytes through until they could deal with the heralds.

Hisomi reached the final stair before he moved his way to a large wall of rock. Reaching forward, the master of stealth placed his hand on the rock, causing the rock to shift slightly, giving way to a doorway. Walking inside, Hisomi placed his hand on a large slab of rock and once he had activated it, the coffin containing the body of the Shredder laid. It gave off a rather chilling aura, as Harry shivered as he looked forward, he got an extremely evil sense off of the coffin and giving whose remains were inside, he suspected it was for good reason. He looked towards Ginny and his brothers, they had equally apprehensive looks.

"The final artifact," said Master Splinter, before his eyes glowed red, as Splinter and the Ancient One morphed into the metal and water mystics.

"Guys, it's a trap!" yelled Leo, when he suddenly realized what happened, but one of the heralds raised his hand, sending a large tidal wave of water towards them. Harry closed his eyes, as a burst of hot wind came from out of nowhere, counteracting the water, causing it to evaporate in an instant, before he motioned for the others to move forward, but the second herald had attempted to sneak around, moving its way to the casket.

"OH NO YOU DON'T!" yelled Raph loudly as he sprung up and jabbed his weapon towards the ground, as the other shielded there ears, with a large sonic boom echoed throughout the area, causing the rocks above the metal mystic to crumble, the jagged edges pointing. Pieces of metal deflected them but Don leapt up, spinning around, as a large purple cyclone burst from his weapon, knocking the rocks back.

"This tests our patience, time to wrap this up," said the water mystic in a bored voice, as he rose up, blasting large jets of water from his hands. Quickly, Leo moved forward, using his weapon to slice at the jets. A sizzling sound echoed through the tunnels, as the water evaporated for the most part, as Harry sprung up behind the other herald of the Shredder, as he made another attempt to grasp the coffin. A large wall of conjured fire had forced the metal mystic to rethink his strategy, as he moved around, not wishing to melt, as the water mystic circled the group, creating a second attempt of a tidal wave to wash away his adversaries, but Hisomi had already made his way around to stop the heralds from walking off from the coffin.

From behind, the other three heralds floated from above, eyes narrowed, before the fire mystic raised his hands, and sent a large blast of fire towards the back of Hisomi. The large master of stealth made more noise than he did in quite some time as he smashed to the ground. The wind and water mystics joined their powers to create a large hurricane effect, directing them towards the Turtles, Harry and Ginny. Harry attempted to part the storm, but the two combined mystical elements had washed them off. The group struggled to keep afloat, as the chamber was flooded, as the heralds cackled, as more water was blow towards them, huge cyclones of wind keeping them off balance. Unless they found a way out of here soon, they would be crushed under the large amount of water pressure, as the heralds formed a protective barrier, shielding themselves from the hurricane, as they walked over to the coffin.

"An amusing diversion, but really, you had little chance against us at all, you pathetic whelps," taunted the fire mystic, as they prepared to haul the coffin out, as Harry desperately clung onto a large section of rock, attempting to keep his head above the water, as he reached forward, as he moved toward his brothers and Ginny, desperately trying to help them, fighting against the miniature hurricane conjured by the heralds, but no matter what Harry tried, the hurricane seemed to fight.

The heralds prepared to shift the coffin away, but the wall behind them slid open, to reveal the other three members of the Ninja Tribunal, along with Master Splinter and the Ancient One, all looking towards the heralds, with determined looks on the face, not to allow them to pass.

"You have gotten this far, but we will fight to the very end to ensure that you do not depart from this temple with any of the artifacts," said Con, as the heralds were knocked backwards, having been caught off guard with the swift attacks by the Tribunal, but they rebounded, circling the Tribunal, shooting bolts of mystical energy, but to their credit, the Tribunal fought off every single attack, they could not under any circumstances allow the heralds to leave with all three artifacts, as it would bring certain doom upon earth.

Harry attempted to keep his head above water, he saw the Tribunal and the Heralds battle off in the distance, knowing that neither group cared. He saw the others just barely keeping their heads above, as the top of Harry's head was dangerously close to scrapping the top of the chamber, a very anxious situation as Harry's head was all that was remained above water. He saw the floor deep below, if he could somehow bypass the mystical spells placed around them by the heralds, he could stop this. Concentrating hard, Harry forced through the spells, struggling as they fought him every step of the way. A large hole was magically drilled through the rock. Breathing heavily, knowing that time was of the essence; Harry managed to force another spell through the hole, that if it had worked correctly would have created a sort of vacuum effect, removing some of the water.

Much to his relief, the spell had worked. A loud sound indicated the water was being pulled out of the chamber, the levels dropping significantly. In the distance, Harry still saw the sounds of combat, but the others relaxed their attempts to keep afloat, as Harry moved over, spotting the combined mystical elements. Harry concentrated hard, attempting to separate the two mystical elements. The powerful spells had fought against Harry, but Harry managed to pry them apart. With the hurricane effect sufficient eliminated, the water lowered until the group grabbed to the ground.

"Good thinking Harry," said Ginny quietly, as the others nodded in agreement, relieved that Harry had been able to find a way to prevent them from dying a rather messy death, but the sounds of battle nearby proved that they had only weathered one storm. Now a wounded Hisomi had rejoined the battle, but the heralds were relentless, as Master Splinter and the Ancient One moved over towards Leo, Raph, Don, Mikey, Harry, and Ginny.

"Are all of you alright?" asked Splinter and the group nodded, as the Ninja Tribunal still engaged with intense battle, the heralds losing some ground, but when the Tribunal attempted a lethal attack, the heralds managed to push back the attack, forcing the Tribunal to back off, as the heralds attempted to slip through and move off with the coffin.

"Yeah, we're fine, but the Tribunal looks like they're gong need all the help they can get," said Leo anxiously, as they moved forward, as the Tribunal just barely blasted the heralds away from the coffin, causing the minions of the true Shredder to reevaluate their attacks.

"Right, Ginny, please stay here," said Harry, he did not want her to get hurt and given the look on her face, Harry suspected that Ginny understood that no matter how good she was at dueling, the heralds were several levels above her at power and would flatten her in a matter of minutes, as Harry, the Turtles, Master Splinter, and the Ancient One moved forward to help, as Ginny stood back. She had her wand at the ready, not knowing how well it would help, as she watched Harry move in, shooting a heavy blast of water towards the fire wielding herald, forcing him to scatter to avoid being wounded.

The earth and metal mystics moved towards the coffin, but Mikey closed his eyes and darted from behind them at an intense speed. The burst of Mikey moving forward had caught the heralds to drop down to the ground, allowing Con to rise up. The two heralds were blasted backwards from the coffin, as Harry continued his battle against the fire mystic on the other end, managing to keep it off balance with fire. The earth mystic had disappeared and seconds later, it was evident where he had went off to, as he burst back up from the earth from below, sending vibrations from above, knocking everyone off balance. Another loud rumble, as the earth mystic traveled, attempting to jar the coffin loose from its foundations.

"Not today!" yelled Don as he managed to spring up, before he spun his weapon around. A large cyclone of wind ripped through the ground, pushing the earth mystic out of the ground. The mystic gave a loud groan as it smashed forward into the rocks, dropping down. Raph zoomed forward, a loud crash further put the earth mystic back but the mystic was not done, as it grabbed onto the wall, vibrating the rock. As a result, the roof of the chamber began to cave in. The wind mystic circled, causing the rock to fly right towards their enemies. Even with the help of the Tribunal, it was still a constant struggle to help keep them from getting buried from the rocks in this small area of the chamber.

"I don't know how much longer we can keep this up!" yelled Mikey in a hopeless voice, as he moved around quickly to get a better move. "And there's making another move towards the coffin!"

"We have bigger problems," said Harry through gritted teeth. "Keep the rock fall away from me, I think I can stop it if there are no external distractions."

"Everyone focus, keep it away from Harry," prompted the Ancient One and sure enough, the rocks were pushed back, as Harry managed to cancel the vibrations, which stopped the rock fall, but the heralds had their hands on the coffin. Quickly, the Ninja Tribunal moved forward, and forced a desperation attack towards the heralds. The heralds partially blocked it, but it did work to an extent as the five heralds of the Shredder were forced into the ground.

A loud thunderous sound from above them caused the chamber to rattle, a result that indicated that the defeat of the heralds was only just temporary.

"Go, take the artifacts as far away from this place as you can manage," ordered Con, as he turned to the acolytes. "Do everything in your power to ensure that they are safe."

"We will hold them off as long as possible, just leave now," added Shakara, as Don moved over towards the helmet and gauntlet, which had been on the ground to the side, before he picked them off. Harry pointed towards the coffin and struggled to levitate it from the ground. Instinctively, Ginny moved over, assisting Harry. The combined efforts of the pair just managed to hoist the coffin from the ground. Leo pointed forward, as they all moved forward, the artifacts have been secured. They quickly moved up the stairs as fast as possible, as they could hear the heralds burst from their temporary containment and the sounds of battle could be heard.

"We're almost there, just a couple more minutes," stated Leo in a reassuring voice, to groans from both Harry and Ginny, who despite their great amount of magical power, struggled to keep the coffin up over their head.

"Well leave it to this lot to make everything so hard, we can barely keep it above our heads," said Ginny and Harry nodded.

"Hang on Ginny, almost there, just a few more steps," said Harry in a reassuring voice, as sweat rolled down his face, his right knee buckling slightly, but Harry managed to block these minor annoyances out of his mind. He watched as they finally after a few minutes, reached the top of the stairs. Leo was the first to reach the door. In an instant, Leo pushed the door open and as they reached the next room, the sight that greeted them caused to gasp in surprise.

"No, the heralds," breathed Leo, eyes widened in horror, as he saw the smirking forms of the five heralds, as looked at the group.

"Wait a minute, if they got here first that means…" said Don before he trailed off.

"That means that the Ninja Tribunal is no more," supplied the fire mystic, as his fellow brothers raised in the air, as they raised their staffs. "Stand down and hand over the artifacts, any attempt to fight us will result in your demise. Hand them over and we may make your ends a little less drawn out."

"No, no matter what, we won't let you get these artifacts!" yelled Leo in a defiant voice as the others nodded in agreement, before he sprung up, swinging his weapon, causing a heavy burst of mystical energy. This attack only served as a mild deterrent to the heralds, who circled around their enemies, as Harry and Ginny placed the coffin down. The water mystic propelled itself right towards Harry, but with a flick of his wrist, Harry bounced the mystics attack back. Ginny give a scream as the metal mystic dove towards her. Quickly, Harry swerved in front of the mystic. The mystic impaled Harry right in the arm with the attack, dropping him to the ground. Groaning, Harry pulled himself up, blood dripping from his arm, as a loud bang echoed from Raph putting the earth mystic to the ground, before it could work its magic.

"Harry," muttered Ginny quietly, as the fire mystic dove towards them, a wall of fire bursting at them, attempting to fry them to a crisp. Thankfully, Mikey was in position to help, as he blitzed forward, the gust of wind from his super speed attack had flung the fire mystic's attack towards the side, allowing Harry to move forward. In an instant, the water attack from one of the heralds was redirected, splashing into the wall of fire, forcing the fire mystic back

"Insolent wizard, thinking you have true power," growled the fire mystic, as he circled his arms, as large fire balls were sent towards Harry and Ginny, but as the others were tired up. Harry concentrated, feeling power welling up inside him and a large metal wall rose up from the ground, blocking the attacks, before Harry transmuted the wall into water. Another flick of his wrist had sent the tidal wave of water towards the mystic, forcing him to shoot into the air in a burst of hot flames, before dropping down on the other side.

Don engaged the wind mystic in battle. Both wind attacks pushed against each other, but the wind mystic appeared to be dominant figure, but Master Splinter threw his walking stick forward, breaking the wind mystic's concentration for the briefest second. This was only long enough for Don to sneak in another attack, blasting the wind mystic off balance, as from the other end, Raph rattled the metal mystic with several attacks, that managed to knock the mystical warrior to his back. Quickly, the heralds pulled themselves up, shakily turning to face the entire group, who had circled around the artifacts guarding them. The heralds just responded with this action with loud laughter.

"I suspect each and every one of you fancy yourselves as protectors, worthy to combat us just because the Ninja Tribunal taught you a few rudimentary tricks," taunted the metal mystic, but Harry just stared back, he would not let the taunts phase him and given the looks on the faces of the others, they would not fold either.

"Now a taste of true power!" thundered the earth mystic, as he waved his hand towards the ground, the earth began to rumble. Harry prepared himself to have to fight another minor earthquake, but the rocks fused together, forming a giant beast. The fire mystic raised his staff and blasted a jet of red light towards the rock monster.

"Go forth and eliminate the acolytes of the Ninja Tribunal," ordered the fire mystic and the rock beast gave a loud growl, as it moved forward.

"Any suggestions?" asked Leo.

"Yeah, take this thing out, before it takes us out," said Raph as he closed his eyes, before he raised his weapon and sprung forward, but the beast raised its paw, smashing it into Raph. Raph dropped to the ground with a thud, scratch marks on his chest from where the rock had scraped against it. "Man, I can't get close enough to drill through it."

The rock beast took a deep breath, before it spat lava right towards everyone. They scattered in different directions, as Don attempted to attack it from behind, but fire shot from behind it, forcing Don to scatter. The beast sprung up towards Harry, as Harry closed his eyes, standing his ground, as the rocks holding the beast together, began to vibrate together, sending them in every direction. Harry focused the attack towards the heralds, burying them underneath a heavy rock fall.

"Way to go Harry!" praised Raph but Raph's eyes widened, as a large hissing sound appeared, as a large monster made of fire rose from the ground. "Or not."

Large flames erupted from the ground, as the new threat moved towards them, forcing the group to run, to avoid being scorched. Ginny had the misfortune of being trapped against the wall, breathing heavily as the fire beast moved towards her, raising its hand high in the air, hot sparks flying everywhere. A streaming jet of water from her wand did not even stagger the beast. Ginny felt a sense of helplessness that she did not like at all and quickly, Harry sprung over, blasting the beast away from Ginny. The fire creature only staggered, as Harry helped Ginny up, grabbing her hand reassuringly.

"Focus all your attacks towards him, we need to put his fire out and we need to do it now!" yelled Harry, as Leo had just barely avoided a fireball attack. The Ancient One moved out as quickly as he could manage, attempting to divert the attention of the beast away from the group. Sure enough, the beast was diverted, allowing Raph, Mikey, Don, Leo, and Harry to screw their eyes shut, concentrating hard, as the ground beneath the fire monster burst open. Cool jets of water erupted, almost with a geyser effect. The monster erupted, sending small blasts of fire, but not it was mostly cooled down as it slammed against the ceiling, only a flew small cinders remaining. The group relaxed their attacks, as the monster was defeated.

"Grab the artifacts and let's go," said Leo urgently, and sure enough they moved forward, but much to their displeasure, the five heralds had already beaten them to the artifacts when they were dealing with the fire monster. Eyes widened, as their blood seemed to run cold when they realized that despite all their efforts, the heralds had won this battle. "No!"

"Such a pity, all this power, all this effort expended to defeat us, but it was all for nothing," commented the wind mystic, as he held up the helmet in one hand and the gauntlet in the other, almost taunting the group, who stepped forward, but a large wall of fire burst from the ground, preventing them from moving forward. "From the ashes of your accursed Ninja Tribunal our dread lord Shredder will rise again and bring chaos among the world."

Harry motioned for the others to stand back as he attempted to push his way towards the wall of fire. With each anxious second, Harry fought harder, as he pushed his abilities past all established boundaries, as he, along with the others, watched hopelessly on what was transpiring on the other side of the wall. The wall faded, but a magical portal had been opened, with the heralds pulling the coffin through. Just as the coffin disappeared through the portal, the coffin disappeared, leaving the fire mystic to face off against the ground, as he backed off through the portal.

"On behalf of the master, we thank you," commented the fire mystic with a mocking bow, as Harry rushed forward, before he shot a burst of light, forcing the portal to remain open, as the fire mystic had already passed through the portal. Harry squatted down, struggling with all of his might to leave the portal open.

"EVERYONE MOVE NOW!" shouted Harry desperately. "Go, I'll try and get through, but you need to leave…leave now! I don't know how long I can keep this open, through the portal, come on, hurry, hurry, now!"

One by one, with anxious looks through their face, Leo, Raph, Mikey, Don, Master Splinter, and the Ancient One moved through the portal, as Harry's arm shook. Ginny lingered for a second, but a pleading look in Harry's eyes had caused her to reluctantly pass through. Once Harry knew that the others was safely through, he rushed forward. The portal began to close shut, but quickly, Harry desperately dove right through, his feet passing through just as the portal sealed itself shut.

Harry looked up, as Ginny had wrapped her arms around him, looking relieved that Harry had been safe, and truthfully, everyone else had let out the breath they had been holding in.

"Harry…thankfully you got out but they have them, the artifacts, they have them," said Ginny, breathing a sigh of relief, as Harry looked up with the others and Raph had decided to voice the same thing Harry had been thinking.

"We're back in the city, in New York," said Raph in a surprised tone of voice and the others looked around, also in shock.

"Why would the heralds come here?" asked Leo in a confused voice and the others shrugged, that's what they wanted to know as well, but Master Splinter pulled himself to his feet, looking rather thoughtful as he leaned on his cane.

"I do not know why they have come here, but I do know what their victory signifies," said Splinter quietly. "It begins"

Harry looked up in the sky, perhaps it was a figment of his imagination, but he spotted a large black cloud in the sky that resembled the helmet of the Shredder and the wind whistling through the air sounded like taunting laughter.


	28. Chapter 28: Rat Nation

**Chapter Twenty Eight: Rat Nation**

A group of shadowed figures moved forward, in an alternate universe of version of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Despite the fact they were skillfully trained in all defense arts, both magic and Muggle, they still were apprehensive about the person they were reporting to. Even if they trained for years, they doubted they could even come close of having the slimmest hope of defeating the Dark Emperor. They stepped forward, as the Dark Emperor, along with his second in command, his queen looked down at the ninjas with slight contempt as they bowed down, as several students at the school chatted happily, a vapid look in their eyes, not a care in the world. The Dark Emperor waved his hand and his assassins rose to their feet.

"Report," prodded Nega-Harry calmly, as he looked at his employees.

"The inter-dimensional gateway is nearly repaired, it will be completely operational without the next hour," commented one of the assassins as the Dark Emperor just nodded calmly, not showing any emotion, before he peered down upon the group.

"Just think, you'll be able to get your revenge on your alternate universe counterpart for humiliating you the last time!" cried Nega-Ginny happily as the girl bounced up and down, but the Dark Emperor just frowned, shaking his head. He loved her, but there were times where she missed the point entirely.

"I do not do this out of revenge, but because of sympathy and because of the preservation of the world that we took so long to build," stated Nega-Harry seriously. "By each passing day that world stagnates and is falling apart. The threats get larger and more dangerous, yet they would not have had a chance to rise had he used his power to contain. Yet, he feels that people should have freedom to do as they please, the same people who would turn around and destroy everything he holds dear given the reason. I tried to convince him that our way works, given how clean and peaceful this world is, but he refused to listen to reason. Now, for his own good, I'm going to take everyone on that world and make sure they are properly assimilated to live in the world that I built."

"How are you going to manage to do that?" asked Nega-Ginny.

"By picking the face of that world clean and turning it into an exact duplicate of ours," said Nega-Harry seriously. "With all the people out of the way, we'll be able to do the charms necessary to blown that universe's Earth completely out of orbit and replace it with an exact replication of our Earth. Then, we can work on restructuring the minds of the people in that world, before returning those who are salvageable back and sending others on a one way trip to the Realm of Darkness."

Nega-Ginny shuddered at the thought of that place, she had never been there, but it was a horrid place to be sure from what she had heard, and the Dark Emperor had sent many there for a few minutes when they tried to rebel against their world. Needless to say, after they experienced the horrors within, they never rebelled again.

"Getting all the people off of that planet will take time, but thankfully all the technology I need to create a teleportation cannon is available in that other world," continued Nega-Harry. "Once I get it constructed, I will summon all of my legions, who will help round up everyone on that planet before bringing them to me and then they will be teleported to the void. The only thing is to keep my alternate universe counterpart busy, as he has an unhealthy habit of being observant and ruining the best laid plans."

He reached over and pulled out a metallic headband, before he nodded with a grin.

"Still, I have the perfect person, if you can call this guy that, for the job," stated Nega-Harry, as he walked over past his ninjas, before leaving the room, to put the first phase of his plan into action.

Back in the lair, Harry was helping Don put the finishing touches on something. Mikey walked over, yawning, as he looked at what they were doing.

"This is a heck of a time to be building a radio, don't you think we should be working on something that will help us against the Shredder?" asked Mikey.

"This, Mikey, is a high intensity magical detector," said Harry. "It will pick up any high level signatures of magical energy, so it will tell us exactly when the five heralds will managed to complete the ritual necessary to resurrect their master."

The detector began to hum and they smoke, causing Harry to tap it with his finger, causing the detector to stop, as Mikey looked curiously.

"Or at least it will be, once we can completely get it working," stated Don in an irritated voice, but he continued to keep working, as Raph and Leo sat in the back of the lair.

"All we can do now is play the waiting game," said Leo. "When the Shredder is resurrected, we'll know and we can do everything we can to stop him."

"Well, I think we will know, because of the screams of everyone in the city," said Raph, as he looked around. "Still, what can we do when he's resurrected?"

"I've told Alexandra to put the American Wizarding Government on full alert, but I don't know how much help they're be, as the Aurors aren't exactly trained to fight ancient demon warlords," said Harry seriously, as he continued to help Don work on the magic detector, hopefully he would complete it before the demon was resurrected.

Outside of a rundown warehouse, the figure of Nega-Harry appeared from the shadows, sneaking through, as he heard the chatter of several rats in the distance. This would have had to be the place, as he reached forward and casually pushed open the door of the rundown building. At that moment, Nega-Harry was greeted by loud, insane laughter, but the Dark Emperor would not be phased, as the Rat King moved forward, followed by his legions of rats.

"I am not who you think I am, but you will assist me in diverting his attention elsewhere," said Nega-Harry calmly but the Rat King just responded by cackling madly, before he rushed towards the one whom he thought was Harry Potter. Naturally, Nega-Harry had a counter for this, so the twisted mirror reflection of the Boy-Who-Lived swerved behind his adversary. In a flash, the Rat King was flat on his stomach, the knees of the Dark Emperor driven into his back. The Rat King attempted to fight back, but his attack was blocked, as he gave a loud scream, as his adversary attempted to force the metallic headband on his head.

In an instant, several hundred rats moved forward, rushing forward, to protect their master. Naturally, the Dark Emperor had foreseen this attack as well, as he removed his wand before he jabbed it towards the rats. A slight sonic vibration spell had stopped the rats in their tracks. They stood before them, unable to move, completely stunned, as Nega-Harry stunned the Rat King with another blow to the back of the head. With his opponent down, it was easy to force the metallic headband around the head of the rodent.

"You will obey my will," stated Nega-Harry firmly, as he jabbed his wand and the Rat King gave an anguished scream, as he attempted to block, but the waves of magic from the headband had buried themselves into his skull, overriding any impulses of free will. "Bow down to me if you understand that I am your master. That's it, you know you must kneel down before the Dark Emperor."

The Rat King's knees buckled, as he bowed down to the much stronger will of the Dark Emperor, who nodded in approval, before he motioned for his new puppet to rise and face him, awaiting his order, a vapid, mindless look

"You are to act as you would normally, but you are to divert the attention of Harry Potter and his brothers as well, far away from the east side of the city," ordered Nega-Harry calmly and the Rat King nodded in response, the beast indicating that he understood. "Under no circumstances should he get any clue that I am here, use any methods that your simple mind could think of to redirect his attention, do you understand me?"

The Rat King nodded, before Nega-Harry just waved him off, allowing the master of rodents and his legions of rats to walk off. With the power granted, the monster would have the power to control every rat in the state of New York, including one rodent in particular that would serve well in directing the attention of Harry and the Turtles away from his objective. A few hours, he would have all he needed and then the next phase of his plan could properly be put into action.

Back in the lair, Harry had just put the finishing touches on the magical detector, before he breathed a sigh of relief.

"There, I think I've got it configured properly, so it doesn't go off at every little bit of magic," said Harry as he breathed a sigh of relief before he pushed the magic detector off to the side. On the other side of the lair, Mikey was opening a cupboard to get a snack, but much to his displeasure, he saw two rats inside his bag of chips.

"Ah, get them out!" shouted Mikey as he attempted to pull the rats out, but the rats shot forward, making their way forward, they seemed to be squeaking madly. They moved over to Don's computer and one began to chew on a wire.

"No, I just got that up and running!" shouted Don desperately, but Raph pulled out his weapon that was granted by the Ninja Tribunal.

"I'll stop them," said Raph firmly, as he raised the weapon over his head, the amulet around his neck lighting up, and circles of red magical energy circling around him. Raph sprung up and viciously slammed the weapon down onto the ground. A loud boom echoed the through the lair, but the rats managed to avoid the shot and Don screamed as his computer was blown to bits by Raph's ill timed attack, but the rats scurried off into the sewers, as Don breathed heavily, but Raph had the decency to look sheepish.

"New rule, no use of the weapons we received during our training with the Tribunal inside the lair," said Leo firmly, as the group nodded in agreement, but Raph just looked sullen.

"Just how good are these things going to be in stopping the Shredder, if they can't do anything against a couple of little rats," said Raph.

"Now, the smaller the target, the hard it is to hit," said Harry, as all of a sudden, the lights in the lair began to flicker on and off for a few seconds, before the power went completely dead inside the lair.

"Great, who forgot to pay the power bill?" asked Mikey but Raph smacked Mikey across the back of the head.

"No one, Sherlock Shell For Brains, the power probably went out in the entire city," said Raph. "Which isn't exactly a good thing anyway."

Master Splinter walked out into the lair, leaning on his walking stick, as he lit a candle. He opened his mouth, to inform his sons about the presence that he detected, but all of the sudden, he clapped his hand over his forehead.

"Join me, Splinter," whispered a forceful voice in his head. "I am your master, your ruler, join us, join your fellow rodents."

"Master Splinter, what's wrong?" asked Leo in a concerned voice and Splinter just shook his head, attempting to clear the voice out of his head.

"Just a headache, the stress of the recent events must be getting to me, I need to lie down, I would highly recommend you five trying to investigate the power outage," suggested Master Splinter and the others nodded, but Leo just looked at his sensei.

"Are you sure you'll be alright?" asked Leo.

"I am fine Leonardo!" thundered Master Splinter, causing the five ninjas to back off, they had rarely seen their master this angry. "I am sorry, but this headache, it is making me rather temperamental, a few hours quiet is all I need, do come back once you've figured out the cause of these power outages."

Without a word, the five left the lair, as Master Splinter walked toward his room. He could still hear slight mutters in his head, but he had tried to do everything within his power to block them out of his mind. Splinter had slid open the door of his room, as he placed his hands upon his temple.

"Join us, join us, Splinter, it is your destiny, you cannot fight it," whispered the voice inside Splinter's head. "JOIN US, SPLINTER!"

"No, I will not, who are you?" demanded Master Splinter, as he wondered if old age was getting to him, if he was going made.

"I am your master, the master of all rodents, you cannot fight your ruler," muttered the voice inside Splinter's head. "Join us."

"I will not," said Splinter shakily, but his will was breaking, there seemed to be something in this entity's voice that was compelling Splinter to agree with everything he said. Splinter dropped to his knees, clutching his head. "OUT OF MY HEAD."

"Stop resisting, it will be much easier if you follow the will of your master," whispered the voice. "You will do everything I say, you will lay down your life for the continued rise of your master, we rats are destined to rule all, have all, and you will help us."

"I will help you," stated Splinter in a monotone voice, his will completely shattered and he had fallen under the spell of this mysterious and quite powerful force.

"Good, now you will go forth and attack the Turtles and Harry Potter," ordered the voice forcefully, but through the mental fog, there was still some fight left in Splinter with the suggestion that he would attack his sons.

"I will not harm my family, you monster," said Splinter, as he attempted to push through the mental fog, but the harder he pushed, the harder this mysterious force pushed back.

"The rats are all the family you need, Splinter," replied the voice. "Do not deny your place in the natural order, you will serve your ultimate ruler, you will help finish off the one's who wronged us, no matter if you consider them your sons or not."

"Yes, master," said Splinter in a dull, emotionless tone of voice, as he rose himself to his feet, walked forward, in a hypnotic state.

"Good, my loyal subject, you know your mission, keep them away from the east side of the city at all costs," said the voice who was obviously very pleased that he had properly bent Splinter to his will.

"I will obey," confirmed Splinter blandly as he walked forward, mindlessly, only guided by the will of the mysterious individual possessing him.

In the city, the Turtles and Harry climbed out of the manhole one by one. One of the first sights that greeted them were a downed power line. Harry moved forward and carefully levitated it off the ground, before he examined it closely, studying the power line intently.

"Not to make things worse, but it looks like someone or rather something chewed through this," said Harry but at that moment, Leo's eyes widened as a squealing sound of tires could be heard in the distance.

"LOOK OUT!" yelled Leo, as a car came barreling towards them. The car spiraled out of control, but thankfully for them, the entire group had a chance to leap out of the way. They watched as the car smashed against the telephone pole. The car burst into flames and Harry quickly moved over, shooting ice cold jets of water towards it, extinguishing the frames, before Leo and Raph wrenched the door open. A man exited the car and he breathed heavily as he took in the Turtles, before he screamed in terror, running off.

"I think he appreciates the rescue," remarked Mikey with a shrug, but he stopped, along with the others, as a chattering sound could be heard from inside the car. "Hey guys, do you hear that, something's chattering inside the car, sounds like its under the hood."

Harry moved over, before he pried the hood from the car open. Once he had it opened, several dozen rats burst out of the card knocking Harry over onto his back, as the rats scurried and several more came from underneath the car. An entire swarm of rats were invading the city, causing the populace to scream, running in the next direction, before Harry motioned for the group to disappear into a building off to the side. They entered just in time

"Great, what's with all the rats?" demanded Raph, as he looked from side to side, looking irritated.

"Haven't seen these many rates since we fought that insane laughing madman, you know the one that tried to feed me to his pets?" asked Mikey and the others nodded, they remembered their encounter with that particular enemy all too well and Don suddenly looked very thoughtful before he turned to his brothers.

"What if he's returned, to gain revenge on us?" asked Don, but the others were rather skeptical, after all they had seen him die, but yet they could say the same thing with other enemies in the past, that had come back to haunt them, but another chewing sound could be heard, causing the entire group to look around, and at that moment, dust began dropping, as the building began dropping down around their heads.

"Those rats, they completely chewed through the support beams!" yelled Raph angrily, but they had no time to hunt rodents, they needed to find a way out. Quickly Harry blasted a window, which allowed the group to quickly move out, before the entire building collapsed down. They turned around, towards a pile of a rubble. Several hundred rats burst from the rubble, climbing all over Raph, Mikey, Don, Leo, and Harry. The Turtles reached for their Tribunal granted weapons, but the rats had grabbed onto the weapons, before they carried them off in the distance, causing them to gasp in horror.

"C'mon, we can't let them get away with our weapons!" yelled Raph, as they moved forward, but an entire swarm of rats had rose up, combining themselves into looking like one giant fifteen foot rat, as a glowing pair of red eyes could be seen, as the weapons were lying on the ground behind them. The combined entity of rats rose up, almost daring the Turtles to reclaim their weapons, as loud laughter echoed through the sky from all around them.

"It's almost like they are acting as one, they have a hive mind of sorts," theorized Don, but the super rodent had raised its paw into the ground. Harry dodged the attack, before he sprung up, delivering a kick. The foot cracked against the arm, sending several of the rodents flying smashing against the wall, but even more rodents rose out from out of the sewer vents, before they moved toward, combining into a demented looking sword weapon. A loud hiss, as the sword squirmed, before the giant construct rushed at the quintet of ninja. They dodged, and ducked around, as rats sprung right towards them, flying off the sword as it swung. It seemed like every rat in the city was going after them at a high speed. The group did there best to evade the attacks, as they saw their weapons in the distance. If only they could fight their way through, the weapons would be able to repel this attack.

"Guys, attack them at once, don't let up, just fight through!" yelled Leo, and the others nodded, before the moved forward to the attack. Their vicious new enemy turn towards then, raising up the modified weapon. The sword stabbed down, causing several rats to smash into the ground. The five ninjas scattered, before Leo, Mikey, Don, and Raph grabbed their weapons. They moved in, to face off against the assimilated rat giant. Quickly, Leo swung his weapon forward, sending a large gust of fire. He singed right through the chest of super rat, causing several rats to fly backwards, burned to an absolutely crisp. "Keep fighting, don't let up."

Don raised his weapon and a loud high impact wind burst through the air. The wind cracked against the beast, knocking him down to the ground, also blowing out several windows, causing glass shattering on the back swing. Mikey dodged around at super speed, diverting the attacks of the super rodent, causing Raph to blast forward. A large sonic vibration broke the rat monster in half into too, but Harry was now on the job, before he came down, using his newly fine tuned mystic abilities to create an earthquake which bounced the rats high into the ground, causing them to fly in different directions. A loud inhumane groan echoed from high above, as the figure of the Rat King stood from above.

"Great, he really is back," grumbled Raph as the others nodded. "Let's make his home coming rather short lived."

The Rat King sprung down to face off against the group, but he waved his hand, motioning towards the alleyway behind him and the hypnotized form of Master Splinter walked forward to face off against his sons. They stepped back, unsure, as the Rat King broke out into loud cackles, before he pointed towards the group, signaling for Splinter to attack. Harry, Raph, Don, Mikey, and Leo all stood still, unable to figure out what to do, almost frozen, paralyzed in absolute shock.

Across on the other side of the city at the Clearwater Scientific Research Center, two guards were on the outside of the building. They stood, keeping in front of the doors, holding their guns. The research facility had been breeched several times in the past, with thieves making off dangerous scientific achievements.

"Man, I'm glad we're not on the other side of the city," commented one of the guards to his fellow guard. "All those rats, it's a mess, the power's out and all that."

"Good thing too, we have enough to worry about guarding this door, but no one is going to get past us, security's airtight" bragged the second guard, as behind his back from the roof, Nega-Harry calmly climbed down from a rope, towards the door. Quietly, he pushed the door open, before he slipped through the door and closed it behind him, without the two guards even having the slightest idea that the Dark Emperor made his way into the front door and into the building, towards the main lab.

Nega-Harry leaned against the wall, submerged in the shadows, before he pulled a spray can. He reached forward and sprayed them. Sure enough, as he sensed, there was a laser grid security system down the hallway towards the main lab. Fortunately, anyone with more than a few brain cells could circumvent it with a bit of patience. Closing his eyes, the Dark Emperor leapt from one section of the floor to the next, hitting areas that did not have lasers intersected with absolutely precision. He landed on the other end of the lasers, after gracefully somersaulting over the final set of lasers. In an instant, the skilled ninja pushed the side door open and then entered the lab. Off to the side there was a vault, containing most of the components that he needed. The malevolent Boy-Who-Lived raised his wand and summoned the door. Controlling how much power he put into the charm, the door just opened as opposed to be ripping off.

A triumphant smile appeared on the face of the Dark Emperor as he crouched down, before he pulled out several components necessary for his plan. Carefully, he placed them in a magically expanded duffel bag. Tapping his wand, the components were replaced with useless duplicates. By the time they figured out of the change, it would be too late.

Closing the safe, Nega-Harry made his way towards the window, climbing out, before making his way down, slowly and quietly, leaving no indication that he had ever entered the lab.

Back on the other side of the city, Master Splinter sprung towards his sons. With one swift swing of his walking stick, he had knocked each and every one of them to the ground. They all crashed to the ground.

"What are we going to do?" asked Raph. "I mean, it's not like we can fight Master Splinter…"

"No we can't," agreed Leo, as he pulled himself to his feet, before he just barely avoided an assault from his sensei. "Maybe we can talk to him, reason with him…"

"Reason with him?" demanded Raph quietly, before he lost his patience. "REASON WITH HIM?"

"Well, what else can we do," said Don in pure desperation, as he just barely avoided another vicious attack from Splinter, as their possessed sensei moved over, a completely mad look in his eyes, as he moved over, before he grabbed Mikey around the head and flung him right into the others. The entire group crashed down to the ground, with a high impact blow. Splinter sprung up and Harry dodged a swing from the walking stick.

"Listen to me Master Splinter," pleaded Harry as Splinter attempted to crack his son's skull open once again, but Harry once again dodge. "I know you can fight this, it's mind over matter, his will is not as strong as yours, you need to fight this."

"Harry, I really don't think he's listening," said Mikey darkly, and sure enough, Harry just crouched down to avoid the walking stick crashing right into his ribs. Another swing and the walking stick smashed against the side of a parked car. The car was completely dented and Harry pulled himself up, before he quickly reached forward, summoning the walking stick away from Master Splinter. The stick flew out of Splinter's hand, but that was not enough to stop him. In an instant, a mad glint in his eyes, he rushed forward and sprung up, cracking Raph right in the chest, as the Rat King looked from high above, with a nod. Don reluctantly rushed forward, but he stopped, unsure what he could do without harming Splinter. Splinter reached behind him and grabbed Don's arm. With a twist, Don winced, as Splinter flung him to the ground. The brainy terrapin hit the ground.

"Guys keep him busy, I'm going to pick up something from the house that might be able to help us," said Harry quickly, before he sprung off without the word, trying to make it back to the Potter Residence as quickly as he could.

"Hey Harry, no problem, of course we're keep our possessed sensei busy," said Mikey in a sarcastic voice, but Splinter's fist impacted his face. Mikey slid to the ground, as Leo dodged in front of Splinter. Splinter sprung into the air, but Leo just barely avoided the attack. Despite the fact that Splinter was many years older, he still never failed at making his sons look inept in training. Splinter moved forward and Leo just dodged out of the way, as the others got to their feet, as the Rat King gave a loud growl, before he directed Splinter in for another attack, prolonging the struggle of the turtles.

Back at the Potter Residence, Harry burst through the front door, where Ginny, Ron, Hermione, Luna, Neville, Hailey Sirius, Remus, and Lily were all sitting around.

"Harry what is it?" asked Ginny in a concerned voice. "Is it time?"

"No, Master Splinter, possessed, by that whacko who is obsessed with rats, need something from my room, love you, bye," said Harry quickly as he burst through the door, before he ran up the stairs, and entered his room, where he rummaged through the drawer on his desk, before he removed an orb shaped object from his desk. It was one of the sonic devices that Bishop had used to draw out Master Splinter, so he could use the sensei's DNA to create the super solider known as the Slayer. Harry had managed to fish this device that Bishop's commandos had overlooked out of the sewers and was looking for a way to block out its effects using magic, but had abandoned the project due to a multitude of other things occupying his time. Still, with a bit of quick tweaking, Harry felt he could configure it to counteract the hold that the monster currently held on Master Splinter.

In the distance, in an empty, but still functional and moderately clean warehouse, Nega-Harry began fixing the components together. The teleporting cannon was beginning to take shape, as he inserted the high tech power cells into the cannon, before giving them a tap with his wand to amplify his power. On the side of the warehouse, the Dark Emperor spotted a spider. He aimed the cannon right towards the spider, before he pulled the trigger. A burst of light erupted from the cannon, locking onto the spider, before it was sucked through, pulled into the void.

"It works," said Nega-Harry to himself in a triumphant voice. He would have to take it to the top of a high building so he could properly transport large groups of individuals into their destination.

The loud laughter of the Rat King echoed throughout the sky, as the four Turtles were down on the ground, battered and beaten with Master Splinter over there, the possessed mutated rat holding a pipe. They were too battered and beaten to move.

"Where are you Harry?" muttered Leo as Splinter raised the pipe in the hand, but a shuriken spun into the scene, slamming against the ground. Splinter looked up, seeing the source and seeing Harry from high above. Quickly, Splinter bounced up, climbing to the roof with a surprising amount of speed and agility. Harry dodged the attack of Splinter, before he put down the orb, activating it.

"GUYS SHIELD YOUR EARS!" yelled Harry to his brothers from above, before he jabbed the orb, placing a slight sound amplification spell. The sonic vibration echoed throughout the area, causing Splinter to drop to his knees. The other rats from below also were pained, as the Rat King yelled, attempting to get his subjects back into order, but they all dropped to the ground. Splinter also dropped, before Harry deactivated the orb.

The Rat King yelled and dove right at Harry, raising his hand into the air.

"Guys, get Master Splinter!" yelled Harry to his brothers, who shakily pulled themselves to their feet. Harry blocked the punch of the Rat King, before he ducked around. The Rat King dove at Harry but Harry leapt up and flung the Rat King over the side of the building. The monster held onto the ledge, before he sprung up and dove right towards Harry. Slowly, Harry dodged out of the way, and the Rat King smashed face first into the building. When he rose to his feet, the foot impacted his face, knocking the monster off the side of the building. This time, he was unable to hang on, but he managed to land firmly on the dumpster, before rearing his head back and giving an inhumane groan, before he looked up at Harry.

Harry blasted his adversary firmly with a banishing spell, causing it to crash against the wall. The monster rose to its feet and dove towards Harry, but the Boy-Who-Lived grabbed it around the arm and flung it forward. The monster rolled forward and landed firmly on its feet on the street, leaping from one car to the next. Harry followed in pursuit, there would be no way he was allowing that thing to run loose unchecked in the city. The maniac leaped over a fence, towards an abandoned mine shaft. Harry followed and before he sprung at his opponent. The Rat King swung a magically enhanced punch that parted Harry's hair as he ducked, before he kicked the Rat King in the face. Another kick directly to the face had backed the monster up into the entrance of the mind shaft. Harry bent his knees before he sprang high into the air. Both of his feet impacted the Rat King across the top of the head. The Rat King crashed through the wood, several hundred feet below. He groaned loudly, as Harry managed to throw himself off to the side, before he rolled to his feet, as the mine shaft had caved in. Harry stepped back, peering down. He sensed no movement and he walked back, to rejoin the rest of his family.

Back at the Potter Residence, his brothers and Master Splinter were all resting from the battle with the Rat King, as Harry filled in everyone else on the recent events.

"The thing is, I don't remember him being all that powerful," commented Harry with a sigh, before he reached over and picked up the remote control, before he turned on the television, as the power had just been restored to the Potter Residence. "Something's up."

"What Harry?" asked Hermione curiously, but Harry had just lifted his hand to motion for her to be silent, along with the others, as he flipped to the local news.

"…and as mysterious as they have appeared, the plague of rats that infested the city have disappeared and we understand that power will be back on for several citizens soon across the city, as many have already been restored," stated the newscaster before he seemed to be told something over his ear piece. "Ladies and Gentlemen, we are just getting word that a strange vortex has been opened right behind the Statue of Liberty. We are trying to get video confirmation of it, stand by as the feed will switch in a few seconds."

Sure enough, the images on the screen appeared with several figures flying into the city on broomsticks, dressed in ninja garb, wands in one hand and weapons in the other. Harry's eyes widened, he knew what he was going on, and this time it was no mystical illusion, it was real this time, all too real.

"What is it Harry?" asked Ginny, with a frown, as Harry looked liked he had seen a ghost. "Harry?"

"Trouble," remarked Harry darkly as he saw an entire army of magical ninja warriors flying around the city on broomsticks on the television screen from the vortex. Harry's heart began to race as he realized he would have to face off against his most frustrating and perhaps greatest foe once again, the one that he worked so hard to conceal from his friends and his family.


	29. Chapter 29: The Enemy Part One

**Chapter Twenty Nine: The Enemy From the Opposite Side of the Mirror Part One:**

Harry stood in the living room of the Potter Residence, before he climbed to his feet, making his way towards the door.

"Wait, Harry!" called Ginny as she rushed up behind him, looking rather alarmed. "You can't seriously think you're going to fight all of those ninjas by yourself, are you?"

"No choice, this is a battle that I have to fight alone," said Harry firmly, as he looked at Ginny, not wanting to drag her or anyone else into this situation. "Look, I know you want to help and believe me, I am confident of your abilities, not to mention I appreciate your help. However, you can't help me, not this time."

"Why?" demanded Ginny, as she looked at Harry, sensing that he was keeping something from all of them, and the others looked up towards Harry.

"Yeah Harry, you're attacking strange, even for you," said Hailey. "Something's bothering you, who are these people and why are you so intent of fighting them on your own without any help?"

Harry sighed, if only he could tell them, but he could not. Not this time. It was essential he faced him alone.

"Is this about your interdimensional trip?" asked Lily quietly, looking at her son. "What happened there, you never told anyone?"

"And there's no time to do so right now," said Harry quickly and Ginny opened her mouth, but the second she blinked, Harry was gone. He went off and was going to fight whoever was threatening the world on his own.

"His silence indicates that was exactly what was the matter, the question is finding out exactly what from that trip is bothering Harry," said Luna perceptively. "He had to have seen something that really caused him grave concern and it must have been bad, as Harry rarely does get like this."

"No who doesn't, he's always managed to keep his head in some situations where even a normal person would break down," added Sirius. "Still, whatever happened, it's freaked him out, spooked him."

"Well, what are we waiting for, let's go after him," suggested Hailey. "Maybe we'll find out exactly what's been bothering Harry if we following him.

"No, Hailey, that might do more harm than good," said Lily firmly. "As much as I want to find out, Harry will tell us when he wants to know and not a moment sooner than that."

"I agree," remarked Hermione. "If I know anything about Harry, it's the more you push, the more he resists, he can be really stubborn."

"He gets it from his mother," muttered Sirius underneath his breath, but if Lily had heard her old friend, she chose not to respond.

Harry ducked behind a light post, shielding himself as he watched the entire army of ninja wizards moving forward. There appeared to be at least fifty on the street Harry was on and no doubt many more spread throughout the city.

"What's your game?" muttered Harry, as he stepped around to the side, as he saw a group of the assassins step into an apartment building. Several screams echoed, before the ninjas were dragging the people inside. Men, women, and children were being rounded up by them and Harry clenched his fist, he could not stand by, letting innocent people being harmed. In an instant, Harry darted in front of his targets, distracting them.

"Someone's there," said one of the ninjas as he moved forward, wand in one hand and a katana in the other hand. "Stay here, I'll round him up."

The ninja looked around, seeing no one there. Then all of the sudden, Harry's feet swung out from high above. Both of them impacted the ninja right into the face, dropping him to the ground, before Harry grabbed the ninja and dragged him from behind a dumpster. Harry swerved around, as another one of the ninjas moved into the alley, to check on his companion. Quickly, Harry blasted the ninja from behind with an uppercut. The ninja dropped to his knees to the ground and Harry pulled him out.

"Two down, about several hundred to go," muttered Harry under his breath, before he heard the footsteps of several more ninjas entering the alleyway. Harry quickly dodged into a doorway to the side, standing in the shadows, awaiting for them to move towards him. Putting his back to the wall, Harry swung his feet forwards, kicking one of the ninjas into a second one. A third ninja had blasted a stunning spell towards Harry, but Harry blocked it with a shield and seconds later, he was behind the ninja, before he grabbed the warrior around the arm. A loud crack dropped his opponent to the ground, as Harry dodged several shuriken, before he sprung up. The two ninjas that tossed them at him, looked up, only in time to have the bottom of Harry's feet cracking them. They dropped down.

When he was certain that he had knocked all of the ninjas out, Harry ducked out of the alleyway, but unfortunately, the rest of the ninjas had taken the civilians. Despite his best efforts, Harry could not save them. Taking a deep breath, Harry took a couple of steps forward, he needed to find his counterpart and find him soon. Only then could Harry figure out what his counterpart up to and stop him.

"Yes, what is it, Ginny?" asked Harry, as he was stopped in his tracks, when Ginny had called him on his two way mirror, seeing her completely befuddled face on the other side of the mirror.

"Thought you should know this Harry, it's all over the news, everyone inside City Hall has been rounded up," informed Ginny. "Eyewitness accounts have said they were taken to the edge of the city where they just disappeared without a trace. In fact, people all over the city are disappearing, no one seems to know what's going on."

"Thanks for the information Ginny," said Harry with a frown, he now had a pretty good idea what was going on and he did not like it all. "It's important that you all stay inside, do not leave the house under any circumstances. You should be safe and away from…the person who's behind this."

Ginny looked like she was about to ask Harry what was going on, but she stopped herself cold. Harry sensed the look of discomfort on her face, so he took a deep breath before he regarded carefully.

"Ginny, I really do trust you completely, but at the same time, you have to trust me that this is something that I have to deal with at my own," said Harry in a tired voice and Ginny looked conflicted, but nodded all of the same. "I promise to tell you everything when I'm ready to but not a moment sooner."

"I know you will Harry," stated Ginny with an encouraging smile. "Good luck Harry."

"Thanks," said Harry, as the mirror went dead and he reached into the pocket of his robes, before he removed a pair of heat vision goggles. Placing them around his eyes, Harry fiddled around with the settings, attempting to detect any unique energy signatures. After a couple of moments of intense searching, Harry stepped forward, he now knew where his counterpart was.

The four Turtles moved their way towards the city. With all the ninjas throughout the city, they could not sit back and do nothing, despite Harry's wishes. Leo motioned towards them, as they leaned forward, watching as about twenty people were pushed forward, by the ninjas. The ninjas backed off and a blast of light came from the window. The light engulfed the group of people, as they were pulled forward, particle by particle, before they completely vanished without a trace. The Turtles collectively gasped, as they watched the ninjas moving off. Quickly, Don bent down, examining the ground closely, before he frowned.

"Very odd," said Don, before he looked over the ground. "The ground's warm, but it's rapidly cooling, other than that, there is no indication that anyone has been here or ever was here."

"Just a hunch, but I bet we find our answers inside that building," suggested Raph, as he pointed towards the place where the light blasted from. The others nodded by his side, before Leo motioned for them to forward. The entire group snuck through, just barely missing a group of about twelve ninjas that were patrolling around the outside of the area. One by one, the four Turtles slipped into the entrance. They walked around the warehouse, before they saw a figure quickly move off into the distance.

"C'mon," muttered Leo, as he moved his way forward, before he rushed forward, and the group forward, but the figure turned around, to reveal the face of Harry, causing them to relax their expressions.

"Harry, did you see anyone here?" asked Raph.

"Yes in fact someone's going right by this way," stated Nega-Harry and the Turtles turned around, which allowed the Dark Emperor to kick Leo from behind, causing him to smash into several crates. This caught the group off guard and Mikey was grabbed around the arm, before the malevolent version of the Boy-Who-Live twisted Mikey around the arm, before he drilled the elbow down across the arm, before he swung Mikey around. Mikey flew right into Don, causing both of the Turtles to smash down to the ground.

"Harry, what are you doing?" asked Raph but the Dark Emperor just moved forward, before he smashed Raph in the chest with his knee, before he grabbed Raph by the headband and slammed him to the ground, before he hoisted a crate over his head, levitating it, before he smashed it down across the chest of Raph, sending pieces of wood shattering in every direction, before the Dark Emperor rolled forward and flung a shuriken out of his sleeve, triggering the sprinkler system. Water splashed down, with a time delay charm froze the water forming a wall of ice between Nega-Harry and the Turtles, before he pulled out the Teleport Cannon. In time, he would transport them into the void, but the time was not now, he wished to have his misguided counterpart present when his entire family was transported off the planet.

The ice melted, as the Turtles dropped down, Leo holding the weapon in his hand, as it powered down, before they pulled themselves to a standing position, looking rather shaken.

"First Master Splinter, now Harry, what is going on here?" demanded Raph, as he slammed his hand against the wall in frustration.

"I don't know, but something is up," agreed Leo, but Mikey just frowned, shaking his head, something about this entire situation that was very wrong.

"Call me crazy, but I don't think that was Harry," stated Mikey.

"It looked like Harry, talked liked Harry, it fought like Harry," argued Raph before he shook his head. "Still, you might actually be onto something for once, Mikey, it could be someone trying to mess with our heads."

"If someone could put forth an imitation of Harry that is that authentic, then we could be in for a struggle, so everyone remain on your toes, be ready for anything and everything," said Leo, before the entire group moved off quickly, there was little doubt that now they knew where this place was, those who were behind it would never come back here.

In another warehouse, quite a distance from where the Turtles had their confrontation with Nega-Harry, Harry slid through a window. According to what he saw, the energy signature was in this building. Harry carefully dodged behind crates, giving him cover, he was dealing with a dangerous adversary, so there was no room for error. A humming sound echoed from behind the door, so Harry theorized that his foe would be behind there. Still, he pushed open the door cautiously and sure enough, Nega-Harry was standing with his back turned to him. Harry prepared to spring forward for the attack, but his twisted counterpart had turned slowly, regarding him with a smirk.

"Welcome hero, it was quite predictable that you would come to this first place that you would see the slightest energy signature, not like I would leave you any clues," stated Nega-Harry and the image of the Dark Emperor flickered. Harry pulled out a dagger and threw it towards his counterpart. It offered no resistance and sure enough, the dagger completely passed through Nega-Harry, before it stuck in the wall on the other end.

"Hologram," hissed Harry, but at that moment, the door behind Harry had slid shut and the image of Nega-Harry vanished, revealing a large laser cannon that aimed towards Harry. The room became bathed in a platinum colored light and a large blast of red hot laser fire sliced its way through the air towards Harry. Harry instinctively tried to put up a shield charm but much to his absolutely frustration, he was unable to even master the simplest defense. The laser impacted his arm, causing him to go down to the ground. Harry cradled his arm, it felt like it was on fire, as he crawled around, but the laser just spun around, stalking Harry, keeping it armed right on him. Harry could not get out of range enough to get a clear shot at disabling the laser as it followed him. Injured arm and all, Harry pulled himself to his feet, the room was making him week and now he knew why, his counterpart had put a magical destabilization spell around the room. It was a rare spell that took a lot of power that prevented the target to be unable to even perform the simplest of spells for a short amount of time. Overexposure had caused the target's magic to turn inside them, ripping their internal organs to shreds. It was a rather nasty way to go to say the least.

The laser followed Harry, as he looked to the ceiling. It was a slightly reflective surface, if he could somehow get up there and force the laser to fire at him, it would bounce off, thus destroying it. Taking a deep breath, Harry just barely managed to avoid a laser fire. Bending his knees, Harry sprung up, as the laser aimed upwards. Harry stood still, hoping that this would work. Sure enough, the laser blasted upwards. Harry dropped down at the last possible second. The laser fire hit the ceiling, before it bounced down, striking the laser. Harry dove behind a metal cabinet, he could not put up a shield charm, so this was the best he could do. The laser blew into millions of pieces, also blowing the door off of its hinges. Quickly, Harry stepped outside before he collapsed, still feeling the effects of the destabilization spell. Harry struggled to his feet, sweat rolling down his face, before he managed to walk towards the building. Slowly, his ability to perform magic was returning to him, but it would take a bit, he just hoped that it would return before he had to battle Nega-Harry.

On the other side of town, Nega-Harry had returned to the empty City Hall, with his teleporting cannon tucked under his arm. By now, he supposed his counterpart would have detected and defused his trap. Despite their differences in philosophy, Nega-Harry did admire his resourcefulness, but he was still too dangerous to live. He would only be allowed to live until the time where he would understand that the Dark Emperor's methods were the only way to go. Then, Harry Potter would be executed for allowing this world to fall apart at such a rate, when he had the power to do something.

"Now to do something about those infernal Turtles," muttered Nega-Harry, as they were an annoyance that he did not have the time or patience to deal with. Still, the obvious solution can to mind and the Dark Emperor gave a calculating smirk, before he activated a wristband, causing a burst of silver light to appear, before the four alternate counterparts of the Turtles dropped down.

"Free, at last we're free, I thought we would never get out of that place!" yelled Nega-Mikey happily, but they all looked up, seeing the unamused face of Nega-Harry staring back.

"May we help you, Harry?" asked Nega-Raph in an irritated voice, but Nega-Harry just waved his wand, causing an electrical impulse to blast through the mutated ninja's body, causing him to scream out in agony.

"You have no right to call me that name, you miserable failures, you may only call me the Dark Emperor," said Nega-Harry as he narrowed his emerald green eyes, looking at the four mutants, who fearfully backed off. "If you had destroyed my counterpart when he had entered that dimension the first time, we would not be in the current situation, the portal would have been completed and we would have stormed the world. This world's Voldemort would not have run rough shot over everything like he has and that accursed Tengu would not be in the process of being resurrected."

"H...Dark Emperor, that's this world, everything's fine in our world," stated Nega-Don.

"I have given you my word on this matter, I do not wish to discuss this again, but you four have one last chance to redeem yourselves," said Nega-Harry coldly, causing the four Nega Turtles to gulp in fear at his chilling expression. "Lure your counterparts here, and do it soon, I have a feeling that he will be showing up. I want all of his friends and family here at one place, at one time, so I can see his face when they disappear."

The Nega Turtles nodded, before they moved off quickly, not wanting to trigger the Dark Emperor's wrath. The second they left, Nega-Harry pulled out a crystal. It got brighter with each passing step, signaling the arrival of his counterpart. Admiring the stroke of brilliance in using the laser to place a tracking charm on Harry, with a powerful stinging charm masking what was really going on. Pressing his ear against he crystal, Nega-Harry was able to listen to every movement of his counterpart and any communications that were made. Nodding his head, the Dark Emperor placed his crystal down on the table before he removed his wand from his pocket.

Back in the Potter Residence, Ginny sat on the edge of the couch with the others. Master Splinter had just woken up from his rest and was sitting in the corner, deep in meditation. The room was very silent, everyone sat in silence, just waiting, given the charms on the house, they would be safe, but it was hard to sit by, while everyone else in the city is disappearing.

"This is mad!" piped up Ron suddenly. "He won't tell us anything that is going on."

"Harry never has anything but a good reason to do anything," said Luna in a reassuring voice. "Something's going on, something that he intends to face off against alone."

"I agree, if we worried about every little thing Harry did and the reasons why he did it, we'd have no time to ourselves," said Neville. "Not that it's all that pleasant standing back and just watching everything go on around us, but still if anyone can stop what's going on its him."

"Yeah, but can he do it alone?" asked Hailey skeptically. "You saw all those ninjas flying into the city. Way too many for one person to go against alone."

"We have to trust Harry," stated Ginny in an absent minded tone of voice, but she had her hand on the mirror, in case Harry did need help, she would be there in the blink of an eye. "Certain things he really can't let us in on, they are too dangerous, maybe so even for him."

Lily entered the room, obviously just having made a Floo call.

"I talked to Alexandra, her Aurors are doing everything they can to find who's making all of these people disappear, but the problem is, some of them are vanishing too," said Lily tired. "I'm going to call Harry, hopefully I can manage to pry some insight out of him on what's going on."

Before Lily could call, Ginny's mirror began to come to life. Quickly, she could pulled it out and saw the battered, bruised face of Harry on the other end.

"HARRY!" yelled Ginny in an absolutely horrified voice, as Harry looked to be in pain, barely able to hold up his head, as he peered into the camera, blood dripping down from his cheek as he struggled to talk, it seemed like it pained him to breath. It absolutely tore up Ginny inside to see him in such an injured state "What is it, what went wrong with you?"

"Attack…help…they tried to take me out…said they will come back to finish me….when they were out of the way," breathed Harry, as he clutched his chest. "City Hall…they're coming back…need help…before they finish...off."

"Hang on Harry, we'll be there as quickly we can," said Ginny as the mirror went dead, before she turned to the others. "Harry's been attacked, they said he was going to finish him off when they got everyone out of the way, we need to go save him right now."

"Wait a minute Ginny, something's not right here," stated Lily with a frown. "I can't quite place it, but something's going on here that doesn't quite match up with everything else, including what Harry told us. I know my son and he isn't one to call for help, even when he should."

"No, but if Harry is in trouble in any way, it would be a good idea to help him out," suggested Remus. "Be ready for anything, but still if there was any chance that Harry would bite his tongue and contact us for help…"

"I know," said Lily. "Believe I know, but someone's going to have to stay here, just in case something happens and we need help from the outside.

"Ron, you and Luna can stay here," said Ginny quickly, without really thinking about it, before she rose to her feet with the others following her, as they quickly moved out the door, all the magical figures with their wands raised, with Master Splinter leaning on his walking stick When they left, Ron and Luna were alone in the room but Ron's eyes widened.

"Wait a minute, what are we supposed to do if something happens?" asked Ron in a confused voice.

"Wait and see, many things can go wrong, it's not a good idea to have just one plan," said Luna. "So, it's a good idea to think things through, so we can consider all sides of a situation."

Ron just nodded in agreement with Luna. It was best not to think too hard about what she said most of the time, but still in her own strange way, she always seemed to make perfect sense in the end.

The Turtles moved forward, it seemed that the city was rather empty and barren. No one was around so it was easy to an extent to sneak around but also difficult as it was also difficult to a certain extent, as they could no longer be a face in the crowd. They moved towards city hall, Don had held up the magical detector that Harry had built, after retrieving it from the lair, but it only blipped occasionally.

"Odd readings here, it's not the Shredder who is behind this, not quite powerful enough, but only a couple of levels behind it," said Don. "If I didn't know any better, it was technology that was enhanced only slightly by magic, but that's impossible to pull off as the two elements will cancel each other out."

"Someone's coming," stated Leo and out of the shadows, four shell backed figures walked. The Turtles stepped back, as they gasped, seeing exact duplicates of themselves standing on the other side of them. It was almost looking into a twisted reflection of themselves.

"Someone's here," taunted Nega-Leo. "On my signal, we trounce them, but remember the Dark Emperor wants these four alive."

In an instant, Nega-Leo attacked his counterpart. Quickly, the regular Leo ducked, before he sprung into the air and blasted his sword, sending blue flames crashing down, but that attack was avoided. Mikey rushed his opposite, at the speed of light, but Nega-Mikey calmly stuck out of his foot, causing the fun loving terrapin to spiral down to the ground, crashing face first. In an instant, Mikey tried to get up, but his counterpart aimed a foot right into his face. Elsewhere, Raph and Don both engaged their counterparts in battle. Don dodged the attack, before he lifted his weapon. He spun around in a cyclone, causing a heavy wind storm to kick up, but Nega-Don carefully flicked a small silver orb into the cyclone. It caused the cyclone to spin in reverse. Don spun around and around, until the cyclone spat him out, causing him to crash right into the side of the building, looking dazed and confused.

Raph rushed forward, but his foe leapt out of the way. Taunting Raph, his opposite had raised his ire, causing him to raise his weapon and blast forward, trying knock his opponent out with a blunt shot, but Nega-Raph crouched down. As a result of this maneuver, Raph struck the side of the building. The sonic vibration erupted through the wall, causing the brick wall to slide, burying Raph under a pile of bricks. Raph attempted to force himself free, as Nega-Leo and Leo remained fighting. Leo attempted to blast his opponent but his opposite rolled underneath the attack.

"Let's go!" yelled Nega-Leo, as the other three Nega Turtles moved their way towards the building, following him, as Don and Leo moved over, as they helped dig Raph out of the bricks, who burst out with an irritated look etched on his face, as Mikey moved over to join them. Once Raph was dug out of their containment, they wasted little time going after their alternate counterparts. They gave chase into the building.

"Okay, now where are they?" demanded Raph, as he looked around the empty building, before they saw their counterparts on the other side of the corridor, motioning for them to come over, taunting them. The Turtles raised their weapons, magical energy spiraling within them, as they rushed forward and sprung up, attempting to blast their counterparts with an enemy at once, as Nega-Don reached over, pulling a switch, causing a force field to come between both of the groups of Turtles. The magical energy from the weapons struck the force field, sending the energy from the weapons back into them. The Turtles flew backwards, crashing down onto the ground, groaning in pain.

"Excellent work, perhaps you are not as dismal of failures as I had thought," stated the Dark Emperor from the shadows. "Take there weapons and bind them."

The Nega Turtles nodded, before they removed the weapons from the hands of the Turtles. They removed shackles, snapping the hands and feet of their opposites in half, before they began dragging them off into the distance, into the other room, before the sounds of several people arriving outside were outside.

"Everyone disappear and await my signal," hissed The Dark Emperor from nearby and the Nega Turtles dragged the Turtles off into the next room, just as Ginny, Sirius, Remus, Lily, Hermione, Neville, Master Splinter, and Hailey entered City Hall. There wands drawn, Master Splinter holding his walking stick firmly for an attack, it was empty and rather quiet.

"Harry!" called Ginny, as she looked from side to side, with her wand drawn as she stepped forward, before she heard a muffled sound from the other end of a nearby door. Quickly, she held her wand towards the door, before she tapped it towards the lock, with the others following, as she rushed forward, to see the outline of Harry and she stepped forward, but now that she was near, something felt very off. She could normally feel Harry as she got close because of the bond, but she felt nothing and it was obvious why. "You're not Harry!"

"Well, I'm not the one you know," stated Nega-Harry as he stepped from the shadows, but he had several wands on him. He just raised his eyebrow in amusement, before he motioned for his army of ninjas who pointed their wands and weapons at them, before they rushed into the attack, but as a short magical battle entered, but the Dark Emperor landed firmly on his feet, before he grabbed Hailey by the hair and quickly put a dagger right to her throat. "Okay, enough with the games, drop the wands, or I'll slice her throat."

The dagger was inches away from Hailey's throat, as she struggled, but the Dark Emperor held her firmly, as Lily and Ginny quickly dropped their wands, followed by the others, as the ninjas moved in, grabbing onto them, as Nega-Harry pushed Hailey over towards his ninjas, as he summoned up the wands and Master Splinter's walking stick, before he stood in front of the ground, a calculating expression, as his followers bound them up.

"We're missing two of them Dark Emperor," reported one of the ninjas.

"Such is the best laid plans," commented Nega-Harry, as he watched the group attempt to break free. "It is useless to struggle, you have fallen into my trap, acting exactly how you thought I would."

"Just who are you!" demanded Ginny, but the Dark Emperor just waved his hand and the Turtles were carried out, in chains from their exact duplicates, before pushing them over to the ground, as Nega-Harry pulled the teleportation cannon from behind his back.

"A reflection of something that your beloved should have been, had he had the nerve to use his power," replied Nega-Harry casually, almost in a bored tone of voice. "The blood of the entire world is on his hands, but I can fix it, as we speak, some more of my associates are gathering up the equipment I need to create a satellite link up for my teleportation cannon. Once done, the signal will be amplified and all organic life on this planet would be transported into the void in one fell swoop."

"You're the reason why Harry took his defeat at the hands of Voldemort so badly!" yelled Ginny as she surveyed Nega-Harry with anger blazing in her eyes, but the Dark Emperor was rather unfazed.

"You two are too much alike, I'll stick you out of the way until I take care of my ineffective counterpart and then you will be sent to a one way trip to the Realm of Darkness, I trust the nastiness in there will find ways to amuse themselves with you, my dear," remarked Nega-Harry as Ginny attempted to pull herself loose, before Nega-Harry. "Now, thanks to subtle hints I've placed across the city, we should be getting a guest, right above…now."

Sure enough from high above, Harry dropped down, right in front of the Dark Emperor who raised his hands before he began clapping slowly and loudly.

"Bravo, hero, right on time," said Nega-Harry, before he stepped to the side, as he motioned to the others causing Harry's eyes to widen, before he dove towards the Dark Emperor. In an instant, the Dark Emperor removed a remote control device and pressed a red button. Grey tentacle like cables burst from the floor, wrapping around Harry's arms and legs, sending an electrical shock through him. After a few seconds, with Harry dropping to his knees, Nega-Harry cancelled the attack. "Enough, I want you awake for this and let you know that if you had accepted my help or had taken control yourself, this wouldn't have happened."

Nega-Harry pointed the teleportation cannon towards Neville, Hailey, Ginny, Hermione, Master Splinter, Lily, Sirius, Remus, Leo, Don, Raph, and Mikey. With a pull, the entire group was engulfed in light. Harry watched as they seemed to be sucked into the light particle by particle, unable to move as a numb helplessness coursed through his body.

A second later, they were all gone, without a trace.


	30. Chapter 30: The Enemy Part Two

**Chapter Thirty: The Enemy From the Other Side of the Mirror Part Two:**

Harry watched the spot where his friends and family stood, but now there was not a trace where they have ever been there. He saw the Dark Emperor standing in the shadows, an indifferent, callous look on his face, as Nega-Harry stood, arms folded and Harry saw red immediately. He managed to rip himself free and dove right towards his counterpart. Several ninjas moved in for the attack, but Harry swerved around, taking one out with a kick. An uppercut punch sent another one sprawling to the ground. Harry leapt up and grabbed on the ceiling, before he dropped down, ramming his feet onto the backs of the necks of ninjas. Instantly, he blew right through several more of the Dark Emperor's assassins, sending them flying, before he went to attack his counterpart. However, Nega-Harry saw this attack coming, side stepping in, before he grabbed Harry's arm, pinning it behind his back and forcing him to the ground, the foot on Harry's arm, but Harry blasted his opposite backwards, before he rushed forward. Nega-Harry dodged out of the way, before he vicious planted a kick right into Harry's face before he sent a body bind curse. Harry expertly deflected that back but the twisted mirror of the Boy-Who-Lived side stepped out of the way.

"Excellent, I was hoping to engage you at full power, to truthfully test my abilities against you, hero," commented Nega-Harry, as he dodged out of the way of being wrapped up with razor wire. A ninja who had been unfortunately enough to be standing behind his master was wrapped in the stuff. It cut into his arms and legs, dropping him to the ground, blood splashing everywhere, which the Dark Emperor lazily siphoned away with his wand. The battle between the two Harry Potters raged on as Nega-Harry put up a shield effortlessly to avoid a coma curse, before he returned fire with a stasis spell, which his counterpart ducked and sent a blast of high level fire back at him. The Dark Emperor lazily put that out with water before he twisted his arm and a large gust of wind knocked Harry off of his feet. "Still, even you can't fight me."

"Bring them back," said Harry dangerously as he caused the ground to rumble beneath them, but Nega-Harry just flicked his wand, stopping the magically created earthquake before he flicked it again, sending several steel spikes from the air towards his opponent. Harry managed to deflect most of them, but one of the spikes jammed into his left arm. Wincing, Harry dropped to the ground, attempting to pull the spike out of his arm, but he just barely rolled out of the way of another attack.

"That's not in my plan," countered Nega-Harry, as he sent a burst of magic through the air. It simulated an electrical shock, every bit of magic pummeling Harry's nerves as he was in pain, before the Dark Emperor walked over and casually kicked the defenseless Harry right in the chest, dropping him to the ground. "Now, admit it, you failed in protecting them, you should have taken control when you have had the chance and now thanks to your inaction, you've damned them all."

Nega-Harry swung back his fist, sending back a magically enhanced punch right into the jaw of Harry, dropping him to the ground. Harry was yanked back up to his feet by the hair and flung across the room, before the Dark Emperor stepped forward, wand in hand, as Harry attempted to get up to his knees, before he collapsed to the ground.

"No, time sceptre to save you this time, hero," taunted Nega-Harry, as he impacted another punch into the chest of his counterpart, as Harry dropped to the ground, before he was kicked in the ribs viciously, causing him to skid across the arm. "Admit it, that I was correct in the end."

Harry's response was to conjure a dozen razor sharp arrows, before he sent them straight out at the Dark Emperor. Nega-Harry ducked and dodged everything, using charms to stop the arrows, before reducing them to dust one by one, until they were all destroyed, but this was the distraction that Harry needed to get to his feet, before he concentrated on summoning his Wind Storm broom. Nega-Harry moved forward to the attack, viciously impacting both of his fist into Harry's face. Harry fell to the ground, magically enhanced attacks, before he slid a shuriken from his sleeve and flung it towards his opponent. Nega-Harry expertly caught it, before he threw it back. Harry just barely avoided it, before he desperately fired a bone shattering curse right to his opponent's wand arm, but the Dark Emperor avoided that attack. Harry was thrown back as he was blasted by a high impact magical assault right to his face. Blood dripped to the ground, but at that moment, Harry's high speed broom burst right through the window. Screwing his eyes shut, he put all of the power he could manage into a heavily heated fireball, before he blasted it forward towards his enemies. Before they could mount a counter attack, Harry threw himself on his broomstick, before he blasted through the window.

The Dark Emperor countered the assault with a high powered shield charm, as several ninjas who had been unfortunate to be nearby were reduced to cinders, before the fireball had done its work, the walls around them completely charred. Nega-Harry just stood there, watching his counterpart disappear into the distance, amused that he had managed to just barely escape his fate once again.

"What would we should do, Dark Emperor?" asked one of the ninjas, but the Dark Emperor just stood there, unblinking, before he turned to the Nega Turtles.

"Half of my forces will go with you to proceed with the plan as follows, you others come with me, he may be able to run, but he can't hide," said Nega-Harry swiftly, as the group split up. The Dark Emperor was actually rather impressed that his counterpart that was resourceful enough to escape him, this time without any external interference. It was quite the shame that he would have to be executed but that was an unfortunate part of his work.

Back at the Potter Residence, Luna and Ron sat, a mirror over to the side, just in case they heard back from anyone. It had been over a half of an hour since they had left.

"Something's had to have happened, I just know it," said Ron, unable to keep his silence. "Ginny's shouldn't have really went out there, if something that dangerous was able to injure Harry like that."

"Ron, you know just as well as I do that she wouldn't have stayed here if she knew Harry was in trouble," commented Luna logically, as her eyes darted towards the window. "Everything's too quiet and I would have believed they would have returned by…"

A loud thumping sound was heard next the door, causing Ron's eyes to flicker towards the door, nervously. Another loud thump caused Ron to leap.

"What the bloody hell was that?" asked Ron as Luna made a tentative step towards the door, listening intently.

"Only one way to find out," said Luna calmly, as she walked towards the door, but Ron looked on nervously.

"Are you sure that's a good idea Luna?" asked Ron. "What if it's the person who captured Harry and been rounding up people?"

Luna just shrugged before she held her wand out, reaching forward and calmly pulling the door open. The battered form of Harry collapsed just in the doorway. Ron grasped as Luna motioned for him to come help her. Ron wasted no time getting up before he joined Luna in pulling Harry through the doorway.

"Shut the door please," said Harry in a pained voice, as he clutched his ribs and Luna hastened to do so, bolting it shut as well, as she looked at Harry with a concerned expression in her eyes, as she saw the state of Harry, who wore two black eyes and a busted up nose.

"What happened?" demanded Ron. "Where's Ginny and everyone else for that matter? What's going on?"

"Yes Harry, Ginny got a message from you, saying that you had been attacked, and you do look pretty banged up, but judging by the look on your face, it wasn't you who did it," added Luna and Harry shook his head. "Still, I am curious of who could pull off such an accurate impression of you that it would full even Ginny."

"It's a long story," remarked Harry as he barely was able to breath. "Luna, there is a box of potions on a desk in my mother's room, could you please get it for me?"

"Of course Harry," said Luna as she ran off towards Lily's room, leaving both Harry and Ron alone, with Ron turning to Harry.

"Take your time Harry, but what happened?" asked Ron who was extremely concerned about what happened to his sister, understandably so.

"Long story short, the person was behind this trapped me and forced me to watch, as he transported them off to somewhere, don't know where exactly," said Harry. "I've got to get them back, don't worry, I'll think of something."

"If I can do anything to help I will, but I don't know what I could do that you couldn't," said Ron but it was obvious that Harry was quickly thinking of what he needed to do, so he was not really worrying about what anyone else could do. Luna returned with the box of potions as Harry had indicated, before placing them down next to Harry.

"Thanks Luna," said Harry gratefully as he pushed open the box, before he pulled out a vial of a light blue potion. Popping the top, Harry tipped the potion into his mouth, swallowing it in an instant, as the pain that he suffered in his battle with his opposite began to slightly be numbed. He touched his face with his fingers, using wandless magic to partially heal the black eyes and broken nose. His nose felt a little crooked and there was still some swelling, but one thing Harry could never get down was healing magic. Once he got his mother back, Harry knew she would fix it. "I'm no healer, but that should hold for now, long enough to figure out what to do at least."

"Maybe if you tell us all what happened, we can help you figure something out, Harry," encouraged Luna and Harry regarded both her and Ron.

"I'm going to have to show you, hang on, let me get Mum's pensieve, then we'll watch the memory of what happened," said Harry as he walked from the room. Seconds later, he returned, carrying Lily's pensieve, before it was placed down on the ground. Harry put his fingers to his head, as he pried the top of it open. Harry withdrew the memories from his head, before they leaked into the pensieve. Harry waved his hand, causing a three dimensional project of his memory to appear on the wall right in front of them. Ron and Luna watched the memory, Ron's eyes widened, when he saw an exact duplicate of Harry, watching as Harry did, helplessly unable to move, as Ginny, Hailey, Hermione, Neville, Lily, Sirius, Remus, Master Splinter, and the Turtles were all transported away.

"An exact opposite from some kind of alternate mirror universe I presume," commented Luna. "That does explain why you were taking the failure after your defeat with Voldemort so badly, as given by what he said, he's more inclined to use different methods."

Ron just stared at Luna and Harry did as well, but for different reasons all together.

"Luna, you're way too smart for your own good," said Harry, shaking his head, amused slightly in spite of the situation.

"So, she's right," said Ron.

"Long story short, I believe everything happened as is up until the Chamber of Secrets or at least that's what he told me," explained Harry. "Instead, when that universe's version of Lucius Malfoy got off relatively clean from his part in the Chamber of Secrets, he reacted much differently than I did. He began making plans to take control of the world, transforming it into a virtual dictatorship under his rule. That world that he comes from may look like a utopia but it's only conditioned that way through fear. All of his enemies have been placed under a mind control, reducing them to emotionless puppets, as trophies for his victories, while all the people are assimilated into his own image of a perfect world but now one world isn't enough, he wants this one. "

Harry just took a deep breath. He never wanted to tell anyone about his counterpart. Partially because, in his weakest moments, he wondered if Nega-Harry was right, that Harry should have taken a more assertive role against his enemies. Obviously, those moments were few and far between and Harry refused to completely acknowledge that his twisted opposite was correct, but still, the fact that he even thought about being in agreement with Nega-Harry haunted the Boy-Who-Lived and the fact remained, that he could have gone easily walked down that path after the Chamber of Secrets.

"He's sick," muttered Ron as this counterpart of Harry was ten times worse than the worst prejudice he had of Slytherins that he had ever held when he was younger. "He's worse than You-Know-Who."

"Yes he does sound that way and I'm sure at the beginning, he did everything for all the right reasons, at least what he believed to be the right reasons, but the power had caused him to become rather insane," supplied Luna. "Still, we can speculate how your opposite turned his life in the direction he did, but that wouldn't help us get them back any faster."

"Right Luna, I need to contact the American Wizarding Government, maybe there's someone there that can help me," remarked Harry hopefully as he walked over to the fireplace, before taking the jar on the mantle, before he removed a hand full of Floo powder from it and tossed it in the fire. "American Wizarding Government Auror Control!"

There was no response, an uneasy eerie quiet, as Harry leaned forward towards the fireplace, but the American Wizarding Government looked to be empty. His worst fear had been realized, Nega-Harry had also kidnapped everyone who worked for the magical government in this country.

"It's just the three of us that are left in this city, that aren't his minions," sighed Harry, placing his hand to his forehead, as he looked around. "There's no way for us to find outside help in time, it looks like its down to us to find a way to bring everyone back."

"It would help if we find that thing that he transported them to wherever with," grumbled Ron and Luna's expression brightened.

"Ron, you're brilliant!" cried Luna and Ron's ears went red at this compliment, before they both turned to Harry, before Luna continued. "But, how do we get our hands on it?"

"I don't know, but at the very least, we can try and figure out where he sent everyone," said Harry as he walked up the stairs, with Ron and Luna following closely behind him, as Harry reached the attack, before he pushed open the door, and began rummaging through boxes until he found what he was looking for. "If we can just find that out, we can use this to bring them back."

At that moment, Harry had pulled out the portable transmat device that was used in the attempted evacuation of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizarding but at that second, Luna looked at Harry, her lip trembling as she realized something was off.

"Harry, did you know there was a tracking charm on you?" asked Luna and Harry's eyes widened, when he realized what had happened.

"He put it on me when he blasted that laser, I really hope he hasn't followed me here," said Harry, as he quickly located where the charm was, before he removed it. It took a few seconds longer than normal, because of the unorthodox way it was placed on him and at that moment, several broomsticks swooped outside the window, circling the outside of the Potter Residence.

"The game is up, hero, come outside and finish this," stated Nega-Harry from outside, his voice taunting echoing from the outside.

"I think it might be a good idea to draw them away from here," suggested Luna and Harry nodded, before he motioned for them to quickly come down the stairs. Ron, Luna, and Harry bolted down the stairs, just as the ninjas had attempted to bust open the windows. Harry sealed the door shut and when he passed the steps, he blew them to pieces, any few seconds he could stall his adversaries the better.

"Through here, quickly," prompted Harry, as the door to the basement swung open, as the three made there way down the stairs. Harry could feel them right behind them. He allowed Luna and Ron to move before he twirled his arm, sending a large cyclone of wind behind his back, before Harry rushed down the stairs, taking them three or four at a time before he reached the bottom. With a flick of his wrist, Harry converted the steps into a slide and then he covered it with water, which in an instant he properly froze. Pulling off a tarp by using a summoning charm, Harry revealed the Space Cruiser that once belonged to the Triceraton Prime Leader, popping up the top. "Inside, quickly!"

Harry's tone left no room for argument, so Luna and Ron made there way in as Harry set down the portable transmat before he placed his hand on the basement wall decorated with Runes, moving them together on the wall in the proper order. The bricks on the wall revealed an access tunnel that lead straight in the direction of the lair and Harry, picking up the portable transmat, leapt into the Personal Space Cruiser, slamming the top shot, as he heard the door burst open. Quickly, he fired it up, as Luna and Ron buckled up, before Harry gunned the Space Cruiser down the tunnel at full speed, seeing several broomsticks burst towards them. The high speed chase was on deep under ground, as despite the speed of their broomsticks, Harry was by far the better flier and able to maneuver even in these extremely tight conditions.

Nega-Harry stood outside the building, soon his employees would bring him the head of his misguided counterpart, but the Dark Emperor sure hoped that it was still attached to his body. The Dark Emperor wished to make his opposite admit his weakness. Right now, he had little concern, he needed to oversee the construction of the satellite and then he could put the second phase of his plan into completion, before he could move onto the final phase.

The Personal Space Cruiser blasted up right from the launching pad across from the lair, right into the sky of the completed deserted New York City. A quartet of broomsticks blasted towards them up to the sky, as Harry pulled the controls back, completely accelerating it high up towards the sky. Quickly, he pressed a green triangle shaped button and aimed the rocket launcher, firing at the riders on the broomsticks. Unfortunately, they were rather good, as they dodged all of Harry's attack, as the Personal Space Cruiser left the Earth's atmosphere, making its way up into the reaches of outer space.

"We should lose them, right?" asked Ron hopefully. "Even broomsticks can't survive for too long in space."

"Actually they can, but only with special charms put on them," clarified Luna and sure enough, four broomsticks shot up into space, the riders cloaked in some kind of magical field that protected them from the vacuum of space. Harry sighed, before he activated the laser cannon. Several high impact blasts went towards the riders, as Harry moved forward. The laser was powerful enough to cut through the hardest of metals but the ninja wizards used their abilities to swerve around, causing the laser blasts to disappear harmlessly into space.

Swerving off to the side, Harry pressed a blue rectangular button. The personal Space Cruiser was cloaked in invisibility, as the four broomsticks flew over it, looking around wildly in an attempt to locate their prey. Inside, Ron breathed a sigh of relief.

"That was a bit too close for comfort," remarked Ron.

"No kidding," muttered Harry before he looked forward, doing a double take. "Look at that!"

Slightly outside was a miniature, magically created asteroid, large enough to hold a small village. Several ninjas were in the process of putting together a large tower, a tower that was aimed completely towards the earth. Nega-Harry dropped down. Walking towards the satellite, Harry saw that his opposite had the same device that he used to teleport everyone off.

"Let's just swoop down there and take it right now," suggested Ron but Harry responded by shaking his head.

"Ronald, its times like that where you just prove why you were sorted into Gryffindor," muttered Luna under her breath, so only Harry heard her, but he was focused on finding a way to get in. Harry placed charms on himself, preparing himself for the vacuum of space, before he put a bubble headed charm around his head, supplying himself with a fresh supply of air, before he maneuvered the ship behind the satellite.

"Take it back down to Earth, I should be able to get in easily," said Harry, as he picked up the portable transmat and Ron looked like he wanted to protest about being told to go back. "Yes, I know you want to help me save Ginny, but no offense Ron, you're not going to be much of a help against him. Get in his way, and I doubt much he'll hesitate to destroy either of you."

"What about you, Harry?" demanded Luna.

"I'll be okay, I have a plan," said Harry. "It's going to require a some careful maneuvering and a little bit of luck, the real question is, do you think either of you can fly this thing?"

"Shouldn't be much of a problem, I mean, it's not too different from a broomstick is it?" asked Ron, but Harry shook his head, before he motioned towards the controls indicating that it was very different from a broomstick. "Luna, maybe you should fly it?"

"I think I can handle it," said Luna studying the controls intently, curious to learn how it worked, and she looked up to wish Harry luck, but he had already left the ship.

"I hate it when Ginny does that and now he goes and does it too," muttered Ron.

"Where do you think she learned it?" asked Luna, as she began to take the ship back down to Earth, slowly and carefully, as she was learning they went.

Harry managed to pull back one of the panels, before he slid into the satellite. He dropped down, impressed against his will at the technology used to create this tower. It was state of the art, as he put his ear towards the door.

"It will be a matter of minutes before we have powered up the amplifiers enough to allow the cannon to transport everything," informed one of the ninjas.

"Excellent and the device?" prompted Nega-Harry.

"Already implanted in the Earth's core, all you need is to press the button and the Earth will rotate at super speed until it is fired straight into the sun," confirmed the ninja and the Dark Emperor nodded, as Harry bit his tongue, clenching his fists. So that's what his plan was, to banish all organic earth off of Earth and then transport the entire planet into the sun.

"And then I'll be able to create an exact duplicate of our world, before we begin sending those who are salvageable there," concluded Nega-Harry. "It's a perfect plan, is it not, hero?"

At that moment, Harry found wires bursting from the doorknob, wrapping around his hands, before the door swung open, dragging Harry into the room. Harry attempted to struggle, as his opposite stepped forward, a calculating expression on his face.

"I'm actually glad you made your way here, now your last memory can be every bit of organic life on Earth being banished and this flawed world being sent right into the sun, a fitting resting place for something that has wilted," remarked Nega-Harry, as he looked towards his counterpart. "What's the matter, no witty retort?"

Quickly, the Dark Emperor reached forward, and removed a shuriken that had been sticking out of Harry's sleeve. He used a magic to break it open, revealing a time delay charm on a pure white potion coated inside it.

"A shuriken, coated with a heavily explosive potion that would have blown this entire satellite out of orbit, ruining by plans, brilliant, but futile," remarked Nega-Harry swiftly, as he vanished Harry's concealed weapon.

Harry quickly pulled himself loose, before he swung the cables towards his misguided opposite, who jumped out of the way. This allowed Harry to remove the cables from around his wrists, before he dove at his attacker, going for an attack, but an invisible wall appeared in front of them. Harry gritted his teeth, as he pushed himself through the wall, knocking his opposite backwards. His opposite came back, as the teleportal cannon was just nearly a minute from being powered up. Harry aimed a dagger towards the cable, connecting the cannon to towards the amplifiers, but his counterpart dove forward. Both versions of the Boy-Who-Lived flew into the wall, with Nega-Harry wrapping his hands around the throat of his opponent, before he forced him down to the ground, grabbing him around the head, and twisting his head, in an attempt to snap his neck. Harry attempted to push his opponent off, feeling the Dark Emperor's hands burning into the side of his neck, but a burst of wind had knocked Nega-Harry backwards. He landed on his feet and blasted thick metal cables from his wand, wrapping them around the legs of the Boy-Who-Lived. Harry struggled as Nega-Harry conjured a sword, before he dove into the air. Quickly, a solid metal shield was in front of Harry, a loud clang echoed throughout the satellite, knocking Nega-Harry backwards, as Harry managed to pull himself free from his confinement.

Harry rolled over, throwing a fireball over his shoulder, but Nega-Harry deflected it. Quickly, as he saw the amplifiers completely fire up, it would only be a few seconds. Harry dove forward and slashed the cables before he managed to spin the teleportal cannon around. The energy beam blasted right towards Nega-Harry who crouched down, avoiding the attack and he grabbed Harry by the arm, flinging him down to the ground. Harry crashed to the ground and his opposite sprung up, but a loud bang signaled a net in a desperate attempt to trap him. The net was sliced as Nega-Harry moved forward, swinging his sword, slicing Harry's cheek. Harry dropped to the ground, blood dripping down from the ground, but Harry clenched his fist, as it began to glow red. Nega-Harry swung his sword, in an attempt to decapitate his opponent, but Harry dodged, before he circled around. The fist impacted his opponent in the face, the knuckles burning into the face of the Dark Emperor, before Harry managed to grab the teleportation cannon, before he removed the portable transmat from its hiding place. He pressed the button, just as his opponent dove at him. The transmat engulfed both warriors, transporting them both to Earth, along with the teleportation cannon.

Both dropped down, but Nega-Harry managed to kick Harry away, before he pulled the Teleportation Cannon from him.

"You know, I don't think you have the guts to do what is necessary," remarked Harry calmly.

"How dare you?" asked Nega-Harry who looked absolutely enraged that he was accused of not doing what was necessary.

"I mean, if you wanted to finish me off, you would have by now, all it takes is one button, and then you'd be out of my way from good, but I guess the great Dark Emperor is no more effective than I am," replied Harry.

"We're in agreement for once," muttered Nega-Harry, as he pressed the button, to send his misguided opposite on a one way trip to the void. A blast of magical energy propelled forward, connecting with Harry, but nothing occurred. "What's going on?"

At that second, the quiet New York City had become rather noisy, as Nega-Harry looked outside the window, all the people that he transported had returned back to the city. Harry could hardly believe his luck, that his counterpart, under a bit of taunting, would fall for the oldest trick in the Slytherin playbook. Harry, of course, had managed to get the coordinates to where they were being sent, to put them in the Transmat, just in case it did not work.

"I managed to rewire your little toy," commented Harry as the Dark Emperor moved forward, sending a black curse at his opponent, but Harry erected a shield made of pure fire, which blocked the attack, before he sprung up, and Nega-Harry spun around, in an attempt to attack his counterpart, but Harry dodged out of the way, as the door of City Hall broke open, as the Turtles, Master Splinter, Ginny, Hailey, Neville, Hermione, Lily, Remus, and Sirius burst through, ready for the attack, but several broomsticks shot from the sky, revealing ninjas diving towards the signal their master sent, along with the four Nega Turtles standing behind Harry, rushing at them, but the four regular Turtles dove towards them, engaging them in battle. Nega-Harry moved in, but Harry sprung forward, knocking him right into the wall with a vicious kick. The ninjas moved in, but were now overwhelmed by the volley of spells that were flying towards them, several stunning spells or full body binds dropping them. Harry swooped in, joining his friends and family in the battle.

After a few seconds of intense work, Nega-Harry managed to rework the damage that had been done and pointed it right towards the group, several hours of work were wasted, but he would send them back.

Quickly, Harry dove, kicking Nega-Harry in the back of the legs, causing the cannon to fly out of the way. Hailey, Ginny, and Hermione nodded, before they sent a combined Reducto spell at the teleportation cannon, reducing it into dust.

"NO!" shouted Nega-Harry, as he grabbed Harry by the arm and swung him out of the way, sending him crashing into the Turtles, causing all of the warriors to crash down, as Nega-Harry activated the wrist gauntlet on his wrist. "You may have won this round, but this isn't over!"

A portal activated, as the Dark Emperor motioned for his followers to make it inside. They moved their way towards the portal, as Harry pulled himself to his feet, moving forward to go after it, but Ginny grabbed his hand.

"Harry, leave it, please," pleaded Ginny but Harry gently removed his hand from hers.

"I'm really sorry, but I can't let him get away that easily," said Harry, looking at Ginny with a brief, apologetic look, as the others stepped forward, but Harry moved forward towards the portal, following the Dark Emperor just before the portal sealed itself shut, with the others gasping, as there appeared to be no way for Harry to get back.

Harry ended up in a complete dimension full of nothing but swirling white light, in front of a pure black background, as he saw the ninjas and Nega Turtles move. He saw his counterpart and rushed forward. Nega-Harry spun around and quickly caught Harry's attack, before he swung a magically amplified kick, knocking Harry backwards, before he flicked his wrist, sending several daggers in mid air, moving right towards Harry, but Harry managed to deflect them back, but the Dark Emperor moved around.

"Never give up, do you?" asked Nega-Harry, as he shot several cords, but Harry conjured a sword made of pure magical energy, slicing them to bits, before he spun his arm and caused a large burst of wind. Nega-Harry responded in kind, sending back a burst of wind of his own. Both winds connected in mid air, as they began pushing each other back and forth, it was a battle of wills, before both were knocked on their back.

Harry pulled himself up and spun his arm, sending a lasso of fire at Nega-Harry, before the Dark Emperor shot ice cold water towards the fire weapon, ripping it into pieces. Harry watched as his counterpart moved forward, newly conjured sword in hand, but Harry blocked the clang. Another clang echoed and Harry dropped down, before he tripped up his adversary. Nega-Harry dropped to the ground and Harry busted the sword with one shot, sending the metal flying to the ground. Harry hoisted his opposite up into the air, but a burst of fire blasted towards Harry. Harry dropped down, managing to avoid a good brunt of the fire, as Nega-Harry held a razor sharp dagger. In an instant, Nega-Harry dove at his opponent but Harry rolled out of the way, before he kicked the dagger out of the way, causing it to fly off into the distance, before Harry yanked his opponent forward magically by the arm, flinging him forward, but the Dark Emperor landed firmly on his feet, spinning around to face off against his opponent.

Both versions of Harry Potter stood face to face, each staring the other down intensely, before they dove at each other. The impact caused both warriors to be propelled off into the distance, attempting to catch each other with a final, fatal shot, with the portal still opened and for a few seconds, all was quiet.

Then at the minute, a figure blasted backwards into the center of the dimensional limbo, completely immobilized in a temporary stasis spell, as another figure made his way through the portal, wand in hand.

Nega-Ginny looked up, breathing a sigh of relief as she saw the figure of her beloved exiting the portal. The minions bowed down to the Dark Emperor, who had his back turned to them, focusing intently on the magical portal generator. Seconds later, much to their surprise, the portal blew right to bits, sending a few small fragments, as the Dark Emperor turned towards them, with a nod.

"Why did you…" started Nega-Ginny before she trailed off, realizing that this wasn't her Harry. "YOU!"

"It had to be done, he was too dangerous," remarked Harry in a flat, emotionless tone of voice.

"AVADA KEDAVRA!" shrieked Nega-Ginny in grief induced rage, and the green light had flew right towards Harry, but he had activated the portable transmat, pulling him back to his dimension. The light connected harmlessly with the all, as her anger caused several windows around her shatter.

In an instant, Nega-Ginny dropped down to her knees, before she removed a heart shaped locket from underneath her robes and opened it, revealing a picture with her and him in happier times, as tears streamed down her cheeks. That monster took her love away from her, even after her Harry had offered to set things right, to help fix that broken world, even if he did not have to. She sobbed, as she stared at the picture for several minutes, promising herself that she would get him back one day, someway, somehow.

Back in his native dimension, Harry and Ginny were sitting on the edge of the bed in their bedroom, Harry looking off in the distance, a far off look in his eyes.

"It had to be done," muttered Harry.

"Harry, that's the only thing you could have done, making sure that he was trapped in that dimensional limbo," said Ginny firmly. "He would have built another one of those teleportation cannons and next time, he would have invaded this world in even greater numbers."

"I know, I'm just glad that Alexandra and her Aurors managed to find that thing that he planted in the Earth's core and destroy it, so no one could use it," said Harry, as he placed the wand that he had taken from his counterpart on the table behind the bed, exactly the same as the one Voldemort had broken.

"The satellite?" prompted Ginny.

"Knocked out of orbit and dismantled," remarked Harry. "As with the asteroid that he used as a base to construct it."

"Just one more question, why didn't you tell anyone?" asked Ginny and Harry just sighed.

"Because at times, I wondered if I was wrong and he was right and I didn't want anyone else to know what I had the potential to become," said Harry and Ginny just warmly grabbed his hand.

"Harry, you were just frustrated, it proves that you're only human," said Ginny firmly, as she gazed into Harry's eyes. "Plus, the fact you didn't go down that path, proves that you are stronger than your counterpart."

"Thanks Ginny," replied Harry, as he leaned forward, kissing her on the lips, a gesture that she happily returned, as they laid back in each other's arms, slowly drifting off, only with the slightest doubt still lingering in Harry's mind, about the way he defeated his opposite.


	31. Chapter 31: Nightmares Recycled

**Chapter Thirty One: Nightmares Recycled**

Harry leaned against the wall, looking outside the window, with the news going on in the background. Truthfully, Harry was not exactly paying all that much attention on what was going on; he was just waiting for the moment that the Shredder was resurrected. His brothers were also on edge, as was everyone else. It was a waiting game, as sooner rather than later, the heralds would resurrect their master and then they would be in for the battle of their lives. Harry hoped they could find a way to finish their demonic opponent for good, because every minute he was not defeated, was another moment that Harry could not focus on defeating Voldemort. The Horcrux was still in Albania, awaiting Harry's arrival, but Harry could not leave until the Shredder was finished off for good. Exactly how they were to go about that, it was a mystery, as the Tribunal had been destroyed before their training had been completed.

"Authorities are still baffled that at the whereabouts of the truck stolen this afternoon, containing several canisters of toxic waste that were to be disposed," narrated the reporter on the news. "The driver has been found, bound and gagged in a garbage bag on the side of the road, still alive, but barely breathing and in a slight coma. Authorities have not been able to find any clues to point towards the hijackers."

"Stealing toxic waste?" asked Hermione as she entered the room, surveying the television with a bit of confusion. "What kind of person would steal toxic waste?"

"An absolute nutter," suggested Hailey mildly, who had also just entered the room, looking at the television.

"If I've learned nothing else living in this city for twelve years, there are some really interesting and rather insane characters," remarked Harry as he turned his attention back to the television at the first time.

"Rumors of a Black Death spreading through Britain have been debunked by the Prime Minister," said the news reporter. "The Prime Minister has said that nothing is wrong, despite several documented cases of several people being found in their homes, entire families wiped out, with a blank look in their eyes, their skin ice cold, and still alive."

"Dementors," muttered Hermione darkly and Harry nodded his head, Voldemort seemed to be given a free reign since he had left. He had hoped that this matter with the Shredder could be resolved so he can devote his full attention to Voldemort.

"Three hundred such deaths have been rumored, with several more unconfirmed throughout the country," continued the news reporter. "Is this a new strain of flu or something worse? British leaders are isolating themselves from the rest of the world whenever possible, and other world leaders are trying to force investigation."

"Voldemort's not going to let anyone outside enter the country," remarked Hailey.

"I know, that's the problem, Muggles are noticing now, it might force Voldemort's hand to extend his power outside of Britain," inputted Hermione and Harry just sighed, the fact Voldemort was running things over there was more than enough. Harry actually wished the Shredder would have been resurrected by now, as he could see things were getting worse over there. Still, Harry reasoned that he could not reveal himself to be alive to Voldemort, until he could devote his full and total attention to the Dark Lord.

Harry was brought out of his thoughts by footsteps approaching up the stairs from the basement. Walking forward, Harry opened the basement door to allow Don and Raph make their way up the stairs, with Don having a very anxious look on his face.

"Hey, guys, what's up?" asked Harry, as he motioned for his two brothers to come and have a seat, which they did, before they looked up at Harry.

"Harry, you heard about those canisters toxic waste being stolen right," remarked Raph and Harry nodded his head slowly, confirming that he had heard it. "Well, I don't know how much you've been paying attention to the news, but something else has been stolen, same way as this toxic waste has in fact."

"Yeah, an advanced propulsion unit has been taken, along with the truck it was on, the man found bound and gagged inside a garbage bag, with no sense of what happened," added Don.

"And they look to be connected," remarked Hermione and the two Turtles nodded. "Given the fact that both thefts were committed in a rather similar matter, I would have to agree as well."

"The Garbageman," said Harry, as it came to him, referring to a villain he had countered before in the past, that had an obsession for garbage. "He has to be behind this, I mean, who else would want to steal toxic wastes and…coincidentally, do you know anything about this propulsion unit that was stolen?"

"It was supposed to have the capacity to launch garbage into space," explained Don. "Supposed to help limit the garbage problem by getting rid of it, and I suppose that something like that would catch the Garbageman's attention."

"So, now that we've figured out who it is, I say the Garbageman's face catches my fist," said Raph but at that point, Hailey raised her hand.

"That would be a good idea, if for the face we don't know exactly where our trash obsessed fiend is," said Hailey and Harry and Hermione nodded in agreement, with Raph scowling at this logical explanation stopping his attempt to rough up the Garbageman.

"Let's approach this logically, he's going to be in some place where he has access to a lot of trash, so are there any new places that have popped up recently that might serve as a hideout for the Garbageman?" asked Harry and the group looked stumped for a few minutes, before Don brightened up, thinking of something straight away.

"About a week ago, I believe a new recycling center, called Recycle World, it's right across the river and now that I think about it, it's kind of suspicious it just opened up right before this crime wave started," said Don. "If we go there, I suspect we're find their answers."

Don, Raph, Harry, Hailey, and Hermione wasted no time in making their way down to the basement, to take the access tunnel to the sewers below as a short cut towards this mysterious new recycling facility.

In Recycle World, several figures in yellow jump suits, wearing gas masks moved a large canister over, placing it on top of a wooden platform, set right over the top of a propulsion unit. They struggled, but placed it on the top, as several more moved over, carrying another canister before, placing it on another area of the platform. As this was happening, a rotund figure with spider legs moved over, surveying the scene around him through narrowed eyes, lifting his pudgy hands to direct his minions to place the canisters in the right spot.

"Careful with those things, I must have every drop of sweet, savory, toxic waste for my plan," grunted the Garbageman, slobber splashing out of his disgusting mouth, as he looked forward, before he walked over, surveying the set up here. "This city will be my paradise, it just needs some modifications, and it will be fit for my rule. All the canisters must be directed as indicated, is that clear?"

"Yes, your Highness," confirmed the junk troopers and the Garbageman turned to the city, towards the heartless people that shunned him because of a part of what he was, because he deviated above the norm of the standards set by society. Society was to blame but the Garbageman would remake society and the injustice that happened to him all those years ago would be rectified properly.

Outside the fence, Harry motioned for them to move around. They saw blinking lights from the area outside of Recycle World as there appeared to be something big going down in there. Hermione, Hailey, Don, and Raph followed, with Raph and Don carrying their regular weapons, as opposed to the weapons granted by the Tribunal. It was agreed, that the weapons caused too much destruction against regular opponents, so the Turtles vowed to save them for their inevitable confrontation with the resurrected demon Shredder.

"Junk Troopers," breathed Raph as he spotted a group of them carrying a canister of the toxic wastes. They nodded, before Hailey, Hermione, and Harry held their wands, ready for an attack should it come. "We can take them, I mean, there's only nine of them."

Raph stepped forward, but a loud alarm from the building across the street had called off, causing Raph to spin around, along with the others. They saw the Purple Dragons moving forward, one of them attempting to pry the door open with a crowbar, as the man mountain known as Hun watched, arms folded, motioning for them to hurry it up, with the alarm being disabled.

"Purple Dragons, all kinds of fun out tonight," said Raph as he held his Sais, before he looked from Recycle World to the building across the street, but Don just held his Bo Staff, before he nodded to the others. It appeared that the Garbageman could wait, as Hun was a bit higher up on the totem pull then him. Don, Raph, Harry, and Hailey rushed across the street, with Hermione standing slightly out of the way, ready to help if necessary, but since she could not fight without magic, she was not really in too much of a hurry to get involved. Raph aimed his Sai, before he threw it right towards the dragon with the crowbar. The dragon staggered, dropping to the ground, as the Purple Dragons turned their attention to the group, all four of them looking ready for a fight.

"Purple Dragons, to the attack!" bellowed Hun and the Purple Dragons rushed forward, but Don spun around on his Bo Staff. The dragon turned around, confused and got both of Don's feet right in his face, causing him to smash down to the ground. A pair of dragons rushed Harry, but Harry gracefully vaulted over them. When the Dragons turned around, they instinctively punched each other, knocking them to the ground, allowing Harry to move forward, ducking a chain swung at him. A kick took his enemy off balance, allowing Raph to deliver a knock out blow, dropping the dragon to the ground. A pair of Purple Dragons moved towards Hailey, but she quickly leapt into the air and landed firmly on their feet with a somersault. The goon turned around, in time to get grabbed by the arms and flipped to the ground by the Potter girl. Hermione stepped in from the side, shooting cords from her wand, wrapping them around the Purple Dragons. As Don knocked another Dragon out, Harry did the same, trapping the goon, taking him out of the fight, as Hun began to run off, as he saw Harry turn his attention towards him, remembering what had occurred the last time the two fought.

"We've got a runner!" called Hailey, as she helped Hermione secure the remaining Purple Dragons, ensuring they were gift wrapped and ready for the police.

"Just take care of two birds with one stone," grunted Raph as he followed Hun forward into Recycle World, the others bringing up the rear, as Hun entered inside, where he found several bazookas on him, courtesy of the junk troopers.

"Ah crud," grumbled Hun, before one of the Junk Trooper activated the bazooka. A loud bang echoed and Hun was completely wrapped up in a garbage bag. It was a tight fit and Hun struggled the entire way, as Raph entered Recycle World, before he moved forward and jammed his Sais right into the bazooka. One of the junk troopers attempted to blast Raph and the garbage bag flew out, but Raph dodged, causing the bag to come down onto the floor. In an instant, Raph grabbed the goon, and pulled him forward right into a fist, before he pulled him over into another goon. Don, Hailey, Harry, and Hermione all moved in, before the Junk Troopers could resume their attack on Raph.

Obvious that they were overmatched, one of the Junk Troopers pulled a red lever, activating a crane mechanism, which quickly shot over their adversaries, dropping a net onto them. Before they could cut themselves loose, the Junk Troopers reached forward, shock sticks in and jabbed them inside the net. The electrical shock blasted throughout the net, putting out Hailey, Hermione, Harry, Don, and Raph, as the Garbageman moved over, his thin spider legs barely holding up his rotund figure, nodding as disgusting drool dropped to the ground from his mouth.

Harry's eyes flickered open, as he found himself wrapped in a garbage bag, which was wrapped in chains, hanging upside down. The blood was rushing right through his head, as he saw Hailey, Hermione, Raph, Don, and much to his surprise, Hun, were all hanging right beside him. It took a few seconds for Harry to piece together that they were elevated on the platform containing the canisters of toxic waste, which in turn was elevated right on top of the propulsion unit.

"Great, I have to be stuck up here, with you freaks," grumbled Hun.

"Well, we ain't exactly all that thrilled about this arrangement either, Hun!" shot back Raph, as he attempted to pull himself free, but the click of metallic spider legs signaled the arrival of the Garbageman, who looked up at them, with a malignant expression etched on his eyes.

"I've been awaiting this moment for a long time, but I was hoping for all four Turtles to be among the first to die," said the Garbageman, as he looked up towards the group, as Harry screwed his eyes shut. It would take a bit for him to figure out a way to get them out of their magically and safely down there, without getting any serious injures, as the Garbageman gave a loud laugh at their predicament, sending slobber in every which direction. "Once I propel this toxic waste into the city, all unfit life will be wiped out, all the evils of society buried, the trash that should have been disposed of a long time ago dealt with, before I remake the city into my own image."

"And what a lovely image that would be," muttered Hailey in a sarcastic voice, but the Garbageman choose to pay her little attention, instead focusing his full attention to Hun, who obviously was still rather annoyed with his predicament.

"And it was an interesting surprise to find you of all people here," remarked the Garbageman focusing on Hun, who looked utterly baffled at what the Garbageman was talking about. "I might have waited my entire life for this, but to see you among the first of the unworthy to be buried before my new empire is reborn, will be delicious."

"What are you talking about, I've never seen you anywhere in my life, you disgusting slob," grunted Hun but the Garbageman just gave a chuckle, before he looked at Hun with amusement, his sickly yellow eyes looking at Hun with amusement, drool hanging from his chin.

"Ah, is that anyway to talk to family, Hun?" demanded the Garbageman, as Harry, Hailey, Hermione, Raph, and Don all looked at Hun, who obviously was confused as they were by this sudden revelation from the Garbageman. "Or would be prefer Leroy?"

"Hun's real name is Leroy!" exclaimed Harry, as Raph, Don, Hermione, and Hailey all looked very amused, as Hun just gritted his teeth and grumbled at this revelation.

"Yes, but how did this thing know?" grunted Hun, looking at the Garbageman suspiciously.

"Tell me, your parents were aristocrats, of the highest caliber, looking down at anyone lower then them, were they not?" asked the Garbageman and Hun just nodded stiffly.

"Not that it's any of your business, but they died years ago and good riddance to them, they never even left me one dime of their fortune, preferring to donate it all to charity. I never could do anything to please them when they were alive, so of course they would screw me over in death," grumbled Hun, as this was an uncomfortable trip down memory lane. "I fail to see what that has to do to you."

"I suspect that your parents never told you that you had a twin, that they thought had perished in an operation," said Garbageman and Hun obviously had no clue what the Garbageman was talking about. Harry welcomed the need for elaboration, it would give him time to figure a way out of here. "I thought they would have swept that under rug, after all, the circumstances of your birth were far from normal and the way they fixed the abnormality was also rather unconventional, not something you would expect the parasites of higher society to dirty their hands in, but they were desperate to remain in the good graces of their friends."

"Are you trying to say that your this supposed twin?" grunted Hun and the Garbageman gave a twisted grin, showing every one of his blackened, moldy teeth towards Hun. "I refuse to believe it."

"It doesn't matter what you choose to believe," responded the Garbageman. "The fact that we share DNA is something that can't erase, perhaps you are more like our parents than you would like to believe."

Hun just looked down at this thing that was attempting to pass himself off of his twin brother, with disgust, more so once he had been compared to his hated parents.

"I'm sure you're wondering what this abnormality was," continued the Garbageman, as he watched Hun's form from high above twist, but his attempts to free himself were futile. "Well, I guess you could say were rather attached when we were first born, something that our parents turned their nose up at. I suppose the best place would to start would be at the beginning, so you take the knowledge of what you inadvertently created to your toxic waste influenced grave."

_A woman with long brown hair and a permanently snobby expression laid on a bed, having just given birth to twins. Her husband, a well dressed, educated man, with an equally snobbish attitude and demeanor, looked out in the hallway, where he saw several doctors moving. _

"_Imagine having to work for a living, absolutely common," remarked the man as he surveyed the doctors, as if they were a lower form of life, akin to amoebas, as his wife, weakened from the birth, flicked her eyes towards the door, as footsteps were heard. The couple attempted to act like they were not superior to those around them, as a nurse entered the room, with an apprehensive look on her face, as she held the bundle. _

"_Well, let us see our heirs," ordered the man. _

"_Oh of course, but there is something that you should know, your two new sons are…different than others, perhaps you have heard of the term, Conjoined Twins?" asked the nurse and the couple exchanged looks, trying to hide the horror of this disgusting defect. _

"_We heard," said the man. "We'll take care of them as we should, don't you worry?"_

_The nurse handed the bundle over to the woman, who bent her face down to hide the disdain of this unnaturalness of the children. Quickly, the nurse departed, causing the woman to let out a hiss once everyone was out of sight. _

"_Children are disgusting enough as is, but these two being born like this, it's just an insult, what will everyone say if they see this?" asked the woman, as the Conjoined Twins began to cry, but the woman paid their noise little mind, trying to touch these children as little as possible, they disgusted both her and her husband to the core. _

"_We shall have to do something about this, before word cycles through our circles that you have given birth, no heirs of ours will be unnatural," said the man firmly. "I suspect the hospital will frown upon fixing this, but there are other ways to fix such problems." _

"Disgusting, they thought us to be trash," narrated the Garbageman, as he looked up at Hun. "They worried more about their precious status than what would happen to two innocent infants. Obviously, the hospital would have never agreed, so they went towards less acceptable means. A back alley surgeon that no doubt was paid a handsome amount to keep his mouth shut and due what our filthy parents thought was necessary."

_The couple walked in, towards a filthy looking lab. The woman had the conjoined twins in her arms, not looking at them, before the surgeon, a greasy looking man with long black hair, stepped out of the shadows, with a buzz saw in his hand. _

"_It's a very simple process, to separate the two infants this is all I need," said the surgeon, as he administered a sedative with a rusty looking syringe, putting them out. The infants drifted off before the surgeon turned to their parents. "Now, if you could please leave, so I can do this."_

"_Do what you must," remarked the man in an indifference voice, as his wife nodded, sticking her nose up into the air, before they walked into the next room, as the surgeon looked at the two, sedated infants, before he held up his saw. He stepped forward, activating the motor, an indifferent look etched in his eyes, as he lowered the saw down towards the center of the conjoined twins. The saw began to cut into the skin of the twins. The surgeon's hand began to shake, when it appeared that his sedative was not strong enough to keep them out, as the left side began to bawl. The hand slipped, causing blood to splatter everywhere, as the left twin was removed from the right twin._

"The surgeon had botched the operation," commented the Garbageman. "The fact remained that we were separated and the only price was that my legs were mutilated beyond repair. Naturally, a small price to pay for our charming parents, as their high society friends only knew of the trash that I sadly call my mother being pregnant, not that she had twins.

"_Well?" asked the man snidely, turning to the surgeon, who just nodded as he held up the blood soaked saw, before placing it down. _

"_We were able to save the right one, a bit of plastic surgery should hide the evidence, but the left one is beyond repair, it will bleed to death within moments," said the surgeon lightly, and the woman stepped back, with a disgusted shriek, as she looked at the legless infant, as more blood flowed from it, as it seemed to be just hanging onto life. _

"_Get rid of that filthy thing anyway you can, just make sure no one knows we've been here," screeched the woman, as she roughly grabbed the right side, looking around as if her well connected friends would burst through the door at any moment. _

"_Yes, do dispose of that wretched thing, it's brought the value of this place down," reported the man, turning his nose up, refusing to acknowledge the mutilated dying infant. "We have the heir we need, that one is just damaged goods. Good day to you."_

_The couple walked out, as the surgeon just turned to the infant, who gave a scream. Somehow, the surgeon could not bare to see the mutilated left half to spend the remaining moments of its life suffering, so he scooped up a beaker of acid. Popping the top, the surgeon tipped the acid over. The acid splashed on the infants face and the surgeon just calmly brushed the mutilated infant into the garbage bin, with several other empty beakers filled with a few drips of remaining chemicals. The surgeon did a double take, it was almost as if the infant was looking at him with glowing yellow eyes, so he wasted little time in sealing the bin, before he pushed it out to the curb to dispose of it. _

"He thought he was done with me and by all rights, he should have been, he disposed of me like garbage and I was off to the dump, but the key lied within the chemicals that laid in the garbage can with me throughout the night," explained the Garbageman. "They mutated my cells, giving me new life, accelerating my intelligence far beyond any normal capacity. Despite losing my legs, I remained alive, at only the price that I needed a steady amount of garbage to sustain myself, as I lived off the filth and was repulsed by clean, weakened by its very essence. In time, I managed to fasten myself robotic legs, so I gained mobility."

The Garbageman took a deep breath, as he turned to Hun.

"I watched year after year, as more was thrown away that I made use of," concluded the Garbageman. "Others, among the wastes of society, joined me, to form my empire, to prove once and for all that garbage is power. I awaited until one day, I could gain revenge on society that shunned me, by turning the city into my own personal paradise, covering it with toxic waste. With the city more acceptable for habitation, I'll be invincible."

"Habitation, as if anyone can live in such conditions," grumbled Hun.

"Oh but I can, Leroy," responded the Garbageman with a twisted grin, showing his rotted, moldy teeth. "Once this propulsion unit is fired up, the platform will be launched, sending the canisters of toxic waste into the city had strategic locations, where the city will be flooded, it will be paradise. And the fact that I'll gain direct revenge against you along with two of the Turtles and these others meddlesome fools will be delicious irony."

"Harry," whispered Hailey anxiously from high above, as the Garbageman was still talking to Hun.

"Almost got it," muttered Harry, as he managed loosen the chain from the bag that contained him, as it was ripping.

"Well work a little bit quicker, because sludge brains here might be firing these things on the city any second," remarked Raph from the side, as he looked towards Hun and the Garbageman, who continued to banter back and forth.

"And you did well enough for yourself, while I was forced to linger like an old, decaying piece of trash, a high standing member of the Foot and now you lead one of the top mob organizations in the city, but I'd expect nothing else from a pampered rich kid like yourself, Leroy," taunted the Garbageman.

"Listen to me, I was just as miserable as you were, you filth," responded Hun. "I had to live to their standards, the day they both died in that mugging was the happiest of my life, even though I got nothing."

"Enough family reunion, it's time for you to die," grunted the Garbageman but at that exact moment, Harry burst from above, impacting his feet right into the feet of the Garbageman, causing the rotund trash obsessed fiend to stagger backwards, before Harry flicked his wand, causing the garbage bags to loosen, allowing Hailey, Hermione, Raph, and Don to gently be lowered to the ground, as Hun fell to the ground, before he landed with a thud.

The Garbageman motioned his pudgy hand, and the Junk Troopers moved out, rushing forward to recapture the ground. Don sprung up, using his Bo Staff. This one attack dropped a number of goons, as Raph blocked the shock stick with his Sais, causing sparks to fly everywhere, before Hailey took him out with a stunning spell. Harry moved over to try and disable the propulsion unit, but The Garbageman rushed over, before he knocked Harry onto his back. In the background, a pair of the junk troopers jabbed Hun in the back with their shock sticks, dropping him to the ground. Harry sprung up and threw the shuriken at the legs of the Garbageman, but it merely deflected back, before the Garbageman used his robotic leg, jabbing it towards Harry. Harry blocked it with his blade, before he somersaulted behind the Garbageman, as Hermione wrapped together a pair of Junk Troopers in the background.

"SCOURGIFY!" yelled Hailey suddenly and the spell struck the Garbageman's skin. The Garbageman yelled out in agony, almost as if his skin was on fire, when the spell struck it. It blistered beyond belief, it seemed to be sensitive to cleaning of any kind, as Harry threw a Junk Trooper into Raph, allowing Raph to put him to the ground, as Hun angrily grabbed one of the goons, before he swung him against a destroyed car. "Harry, Hermione, scouring charms and any other cleaning spells for that matter, his skin can't take it."

Several bursts of light struck the Garbageman at once, causing the titan of trash to back off, his skin becoming very raw, as it was cleaned. He rushed over, in an attempt to savior some of his precious trash, but Harry placed an invisible wall against him. The Garbageman struck the wall and with a flick of his wrist, the wall was transfigured into the water. The water splashed down onto the Garbageman's form, causing him to dig his own fingernails into his skin, as he was struck with another spell. In a vague attempt, he attempted to activate the drill function of his robotic bottom, to escape in a matter similar than he had done last time, but Harry had anticipated this and with a quick movement of his wrist, the propulsion unit was switched with the robotic legs. The Garbageman pressed the button, but he realized what he had done, as the top half of him blasted high into the sky. A loud scream echoed throughout as the Garbageman disappeared into the distance, as Hailey, Hermione, Harry, Raph, and Don watched him leave.

"Dare I ask where that is going to send him?" asked Raph.

"Into the outer reaches of space, until it runs out of fuel, I suspect he'll die from being in space before then anyway," theorized Don before he looked around, at the secured Junk Troopers, but realized that Hun had escaped while they were concerned with the Garbageman's goons. "All we need to go is phone a tip to the police to pick these guys up with the stole toxic waste."

"I think we should go, it's getting really late," yawned Hermione, as it was very late.

"Yeah, good luck sleeping, I know I won't after that story that the Garbageman told," shuddered Hailey, and the others nodded in agreement, as they left Recycle World, the twisted tale of the past of both Hun and the Garbageman still fresh in their minds.


	32. Chapter 32: New World Order Part One

**Chapter 32: New World Order Part One:**

Inside a temple, the five heralds of the Shredder stood around the coffin containing the remains of their master, his helmet on one side and the gauntlet on the other side. The heralds bent down, their hands clasped together as they were chanting under their breath. The coffin began to glow, circled in a red light as it began to burst open. A skeletal figure rose up out of the coffin, magical energy circling around it, before pale skin began to grow onto the skin, as the gauntlet spun over, fastening onto the head of the figure and the helmet ended onto the head, as it rose up to his feet, looking from side to side, surveying the scene around him.

"Master," breathed the fire mystic, as it looked towards the Shredder who had turned towards them.

"Our master lives once more, the Shredder has returned," declared the water foot mystic and the Shredder's eyes underneath the helmet glowed red, as he turned towards his minions.

"I LIVE!" thundered the Shredder in a gleeful tone of voice, as he felt his power rapidly returning to him, as he turned to address his heralds. "Now, let the entire world tremble before my feet."

The Shredder reared back his head and laughed wickedly, his laughter filling the entire temple, as the heralds awaited the orders of their master, soon, the world would be his once again and all that opposed him would be crushed.

The street below her rumbled, as Karai backed off. She looked around, pulling out a sword, but the large, stooping figure of the Shredder appeared on the street. Rushing forward, she attempted to attack the Shredder, but he just blasted her backwards. The Turtles and Harry stepped forward, but the further they walked forward, the further they were away. The Shredder raised his large fists and Karai looked fearful, as the hand smashed down towards her onto the ground.

At that moment, the eyes Raph, Leo, Mikey, Don, and Harry all flickered open, as Master Splinter and the Ancient One looked on from in front of them. Splinter breathed, as he watched his sons exchange looks with each other, each of them wearing equally confused looks on their face.

"So, you've saw it too," remarked Leo, as he broke the silence, and the others nodded slowly, with Master Splinter sighing, as he regarded his sons. "What does in mean, though?"

"It means it's already begun, the heralds have resurrected the Shredder and soon, he will sweep the city," remarked Master Splinter, as he looked around off to the side and Harry's magic detector began blinking, before it hummed rather loudly, as Harry stepped over, as the detector began filling the room with a dark, blinding light.

"Too much dark magic in the air, he's here," muttered Harry, as the backlash was causing a slight stinging pain in his scar. "And, if I interpreted that vision correctly, the first person he wants to destroy is Karai. He wouldn't take too kindly to her."

"Good, let him take her out, that will save us a headache later," grumbled Raph but the Ancient One just turned to Raph with a thoughtful expression etched on his face, it appeared that the wise old master was contemplating something.

"Yes, by allowing the Shredder to finish off Karai, it would eliminate the problem of the Foot, it does seem that way yes," agreed the Ancient One. "However, if the signs are correct, allowing Karai to be destroyed might increase the Shredder's power by a significant portion. Then again, I could be mistaken, but would you be willing to take that chance?"

"The Ancient One's words contain much wisdom, I have sensed for sometime that Karai has some role to play with the upcoming battle with the dark one, I'm not quite sure what, but there is a role that she must play, that may leave to the Shredder's downfall," said Master Splinter. "It is necessary you must reach her before the Shredder does."

"So, not only do we have to get there before the Shredder, but we have to convince Karai to come with us, before she sets an entire army of Foot Ninjas onto us," gulped Mikey and the others seemed equally apprehensive, this seemed to be an uphill battle to say the very least.

"Yes, I know, it does seem like a steep task, but you must do it, find her, and somehow convince her, until we can find a way to deal with this menace and you must do it quickly, time might be running out, but please, make contact immediately that " said Master Splinter calmly, before he turned towards the magic detector, looking towards it with a bit of an apprehensive look in his eyes, before he nodded, as Leo motioned for the others to follow, as they crowded around in deep conversation.

"Okay, we'll take the Battle Shell and try to maneuver around towards the Foot Headquarters, before the Shredder even gets close," said Leo. "Harry, stun her, and we'll worry about when we tell her once we get her out of there. I just hope that the Foot won't make too many problems."

With that, the Turtles and Harry quickly rushed from the lair, as fast as they could move, as the Ancient One and Master Splinter stayed. Splinter looked off in the distance, reflecting on this vision, along with the blurry, fragmented visions he had been having recently, that pointed towards something bad happening to his sons should they face off against the Shredder. Splinter hoped that they were a product of his paranoia based on the resurrection of the Shredder.

The Shredder stepped forward into the streets, his five heralds floating behind them, as he took in the land with distaste, looking around from side to side.

"Much has changed since I had last ruled, it's become a breeding ground for weakness more than ever before" said the Shredder as he looked from the side, before he raised his hands, the parked cars on the street levitating to the ground. A crowd of people looked up and ran in terror, as the Shredder flung the parked cars over towards them, causing them to scatter. "The humans have not changed much. They continue to flee in terror at the slightest sign of power."

The Shredder spread his arms as he stepped forward, the windows shattering as he stepped forward, as from a side street, the Battle Shell was parked to the side, as the Turtles and Harry flung forward.

"Oh great, it's really him," said Mikey. "Now what are we going to do, he's already ahead of us."

"Keep your shell on Mikey, I'm going to try and get around him," said Don as he started up the Battle Shell, before he hit the accelerator and attempted to blast by the Shredder, as the Battle Shell moved forward, but unfortunately, the Shredder had seen them move forward, turning his attention towards the speeding Battle Shell.

"What an annoying horseless carriage," remarked the Shredder coldly as he pointed his hand forward, before he engulfed it in a stasis beam. The demon hoisted up his arms, before he flung the Battle Shell halfway across the street backwards, causing it to smash down onto the ground. The Battle Shell spun out of control, but Don just managed to hit the emergency breaks just in the time, but the Shredder's attention was already turned away from them, as he turned to his heralds. "Come forth, the fortress of the usurper awaits, she must pay for her arrogance."

The shaken up Turtles and Harry all pulled themselves up, looking forward, as they watched the Shredder leave.

"Man, he didn't even pay attention to us, just swatting us away like we were a fly of something," remarked Raph as watched forward, as the Shredder walked forward.

"He's marching on Foot Headquarters, he's getting closer, time is running out," said Leo desperately. "Don, is there another way to get around, so we can get to him?"

"I'm afraid not, unless Harry can apparate us there," suggested Don hopefully but as they turned to Harry, he shook his head, looking off in the distance apprehensively.

"No, too much dark magic is in the air, I'll be ripped to shreds if I even tried and in fact, you will too," explained Harry and the group looked stumped, attempting to think of a way to get to the Foot Headquarters when the Shredder moves forward.

"We might have to fight him, stall him somehow I guess," suggested Raph but somehow this did not seem to be the best idea in the world, after the Shredder just blasted them backwards effortlessly. Harry shut his eyes, before a sudden burst of inspiration came to him.

"I've got it, remember, Karai has a van with Foot representatives parked out behind my house, attempting to catch you guys around that area," informed Harry. "There has to be some kind of communications equipment that are linked straight to the Foot Headquarters and thankfully, it's not too far from here, so perhaps we can send a message to her that way. It's a long shot."

"Right down that's the only shot we have," said Leo, nodding as Don pulled out of the side street, before they quickly made their way towards the alleyway. The Battle Shell was parked off to the side, as Harry motioned for his brothers to exit the vehicle, as they moved around, seeing a large black van with the Foot logo on the side, as they crept around, holding their weapons, but not wanting to use them against anyone but the Shredder's demon minions due to the destructive properties.

Quickly, the door pushed open, as a handful of Foot Tech Workers were crouched over the monitoring station. One of them looked up, in an attempt to see what was going on and walked forward to check out a disturbance. This proved to be his undoing, as Raph grabbed the technician by the throat, before he punched them. Quickly, Leo, Don, Mikey, and Harry followed suit, Harry catching one of the foot technicians in a full body bind, while Mikey ducked an attempted attack, allowing Don to put him down. Harry dodged an attack and flung another technician into the wall, as Leo and Raph teamed up to put another pair of technicians down for the count. The Turtles and Harry cautiously moved over, before Don sat himself in a chair and began to activate the communications equipment, which they assumed was patched right into Foot Headquarters.

"I sure hope this is a good idea," muttered Don, as the others looked on and sure enough, after a connection had been established, they saw Karai's face on the screen. Once the leader of the Foot had seen who was on the other side of the communication link, she was not too pleased to say the least.

"What, you five have a lot of nerve using this frequency!" cried Karai, as she narrowed her eyes with pure hatred at those who had a role in murdering her father. "No matter, I will find you and destroy you…"

"Can the tough talk for a while Karai," cut in Leo, as he looked at the leader of the Foot, who seemed insulted that she was cut off. "We need to warn you that…"

"What, that a ghost is after me, a boogieman?" demanded Karai her eyes blazing with a mad, hatred, as she looked at the Turtles and Harry, not seeming concerned at the least about their warnings. "You can be certain that I have been aware of this Tengu for quite some time and have taken the proper steps so he can meet his destruction. And once I'm done with him, my attention will be turned to you. I will hunt done each and every one of you and be your doom."

At that moment, Karai's face just disappeared from the screen, having terminated with the transmission. The five brothers exchanged hopeless looks, as they had failed to get through with her, to warn her of the danger that the demon Shredder had presented. With a sigh, Leo turned his attention over towards Don, who still sat in front of the communications console.

"Don patch us into the lair, so we can ask Master Splinter and the Ancient One for their advice," ordered Leo and Don quickly did so, changing the communications frequency slightly, so they were able to get into the lair. A few seconds, and the confused face of the Ancient One appeared on the screen, as he looked around.

"How do I answer this idiotic contraption?" wondered the Ancient One in confusion, as his eyes darted from side to side in absolute confusion.

"You already did, Ancient One," said Master Splinter from the background and the Ancient One's eyes widened, as Master Splinter stepped off to the side, to quickly address his sons. "Well, what do you have to report, did you manage to get to Karai?"

"No, Master Splinter, she's not listening to us, she thinks she has a chance to fight the Shredder," answered Leo promptly in a desperate voice and with that, the faces of the Ancient One and Master Splinter both became very grim.

"Well that's the end of her," commented the Ancient One grimly.

"Listen, you must find a way to get through to her before it is too late, do what you must to get her to come, but under no circumstances are you to engage the Shredder or his minions until battle at this time," stated Master Splinter firmly as he looked at his sons. "Good luck and be careful, we will be at the location we discussed to await your arrival."

At that moment, the faces of Master Splinter and the Ancient One disappeared to the screen. Harry just took a deep breath in an attempt to calm himself, as the others looked around with wide eyes, as they knew what must be done.

"Don't fight the Shredder he says!" cried Mikey in an irritated voice. "After he flipped us like a pancake, it's going be hard to do it."

"Maybe, but Master Splinter told us that we had to get to Foot Headquarters before the Shredder did," argued Leo as they climbed out of the van, before they peered up to the sky above. "There's a chance we can get there, first if we travel above and beyond the Shredder but it's a very long shot."

"Good odds," muttered Harry as the others nodded, before they scaled up to the top of the building, leaping from rooftop to rooftop, moving towards Foot Headquarters quickly. Time was running out, a sense of the Shredder's growing power, as he drew off the fear of those around him as he made his way closer towards Foot Headquarters.

The Shredder walked forward, as the heralds were behind him. He waved his hand, the cloaked Foot Headquarters building becoming visible. Looking up at, the Shredder seemed rather uninterested at the tall skyscraper.

"So this is the usurper's fortress," commented the Shredder, as his hands began to glow in a green colored magical energy, causing green flames to appear on the ground as he moved forward, the heralds nodding in response, to their master's query. "Pathetic, obviously shows the weakness, rolling right over it will take little time flat."

The doors of the Foot Headquarters burst open and the Shredder looked up calmly, not bothered by the figures appearing outside the door. Hundreds of Foot Ninjas appeared in front of the Shredder and the five heralds, ready for battle, but the Shredder just narrowed his eyes, glowing red as he looked at each and every one of the ninjas, held their weapons up.

"Pathetic, little insignificant warriors," said the Shredder coldly, as he raised his arms in the air, drawing a heavy amount of dark magical energy around him, as the heralds laughed at the pathetic attempts of these mortals passing themselves off as warriors to intimidate their master. "I'll give you one chance to surrender and return home to your mothers little ninjas."

The ninjas did not back off, but rather they sprung up in an attempt to attack the Shredder, weapons at the ready. The Shredder did not even flinch at the slightest, rather he spread his arms, sending a heavy amount of green light blasting out towards them. The light struck the ninjas in the sky, impacting them full force. The ninjas dropped down to the ground, one by one, as the Shredder looked almost bored with how easy they folded. Stepping over the motionless bodies of the departed warriors, Shredder walked towards the fortress, his five heralds following behind him.

"Come out, Karai!" bellowed the Shredder, his eyes glowing red, as malignant magical energy swirled around him, standing in the shadows, the five heralds taunting laughter echoing in the sky. "Stop sending insects to do your bidding and face your destiny for disgracing my name, disgracing the legacy of the Foot."

As the Shredder and his heralds moved forward, a loud burst of smoke erupted right in front of them, stalling them only just slightly in their tracks. When the smoke cleared, standing right before them were the Elite Guard. The Elite seemed determined to do all they could to defend their stronghold. The heralds moved forward to battle but the Shredder just raised his hand, causing them to stop, but only at their master's orders.

"Stand back, my followers, the day's pleasures shall all me mine," remarked the Shredder and the Foot Elite rushed forward. They attempted to attack, but the Shredder used his power to push back each attack. It seemed like he was amusing himself by allowing the Foot Elite to get in close, before seamlessly cutting off each and every attack. The axe had came within just a few inches of chopping into the top of the Shredder's helmet, but he caught it, before he wretched it back viciously, staggering the Foot Elite off guard, as they stood back, before they attempted a desperation assault on the Shredder.

The Shredder once again moved into the attack, levitating both the Elite Guard and their weapons up into the air. They were held up, helplessly, as the heralds watched on with amusement at their master's work. The Shredder withdrew his arms from the attack, causing the Elite Guard to plunge down to the ground. Several sickening cracks was music to the demon's ears, as no doubt bones had been broken from his attack. This was not enough for the Shredder, as his wrists were flicked. The weapons, still high above, spun around, pointed down towards their former owners. With another calm wave, the weapons plunged down at a high speed. The four elite guard ninjas looked up helplessly, as the weapons plunged right into the chests of their former owners. Blood flowed, as the elite guard had been impaled by their own weapons and the heralds followed their master, as he stepped forward, walking forward, but the doors in front of him burst open. The Shredder looked up, awaiting the next alleged challenge that the usurper would put upon them, wishing for a test to his newly rediscovered power.

Right in front of the Shredder and his heralds, several Foot Mech robots advanced on them, weaponry at the ready. The Shredder did not seem to be irritated by this latest development, but rather, the tengu/warrior hybrid welcomed it, as his heralds moved around, awaiting their master's command for the attack.

"Finally, a chance to display some real power!" declared the Shredder triumphantly, as the weapons were pointed right towards the demon, and pointed towards the Shredder, as they were fired. The heralds moved in to defend their master, but a field of pure black light erupted around the Shredder, reducing the missiles fired around them into mere oblivion. The Foot Mechs did their best to exhaust all of their fire power, they had strict orders to not let this demon to pass until Karai had been completely ready to face him in pain. However, they could not fire close enough to the Shredder to do any damage Their defends had been whittled down as the more they fired, the more resistance that the Shredder offered, causing them to slightly lose their balance as he pushed back their fire, the Mechs rocked back and forth, as the Shredder just blandly stared at them. "Rather pathetic that this is all the resistance that the usurper could offer against true power. This really tries my patience, so I shall put an end to all of these games."

One of the Foot Mechs rushed the demon warrior, in an attempt to defeat him by using the sheer size of the Mech armor. This did not work, as the Shredder latched onto it with his hands, before he ripped both the Mech and the person operating it to shreds. He held up the decapitated head of the pilot, before it turned into a fireball. Spinning his arm the Shredder launched the transfigured fireball right towards the remaining Foot Mechs, incinerating both the Mechs and the pilots into ashes, as green dark magical energy swirled around his glowing red eyes as he stepped forth, continuing his search for Karai, the heralds observing. While they could not gain proper revenge on the one that imprisoned them using the Heart of Tengu because of Harry Potter beating them to it, they could watch in anticipation as their master flattened his daughter, who had also disrespected them by mocking their great power.

Karai watched from a higher flower, as Foot Technicians stood around, one of them operating the security system, keeping a close eye on the activities of the tengu Shredder as he moved towards the building.

"He has breeched past our initial defenses, Mistress Karai," reported the Foot Technician but Karai just stood in the shadows, dressed in full Shredder armor minus the helmet, a rather cold and indifferent scowl etched on her face.

"I am well aware of that, I am not blind," answered Karai coolly, before she turned to a second Foot Technician, who was monitoring and incoming call. "What is it this time?"

"Mistress Karai, the mayor is on line three, he wants to speak to you, he says it's urgent," informed the technician and Karai just let out a sigh, she had known that the chaos within the city would not escape the attention of the citizens and in fact the mayor for long.

"Put him through," ordered Karai and the Foot Technician obeyed, as the anxious face of the mayor appeared on screen, eyes widened, as he appeared to have been under a lot of stress.

"I cannot keep my people back much longer," said the Mayor without preamble. "I am working hard to keep them away from your headquarters, but at the same time, they are bound to get curious, the news media especially, but regular citizens as well and they are getting much closer by the moment. I'm afraid that before long, they will notice that something strange is going on."

"I need more time, you need to find some way to keep the citizens of the city back," said Karai, a slight amount of desperation evident in her voice. The Mayor opened his mouth, but Karai spoke before he had a chance to protest. "I am counting on you, if you do a satisfactory job of keeping the citizens away from my building, you will be seizing a sizeable deposit in your Swiss bank account come tomorrow morning."

The Mayor's expression brightened at this statement by Karai, but he quickly cleared his throat, before he looked towards her.

"Well, I suppose I can think of something that could keep them away your headquarters," remarked the Mayor as he quickly terminated the communication link, as it disappeared from sight, as Karai took a deep breath, before she turned to the Technician.

"Get me Chaplin, now," ordered Karai and the Foot Technician began patching into the lab where Chaplin was working on defenses that would allow them to vanquish the Tengu and his minions.

Chaplin was over a table, fusing a power module into a weapon of some sort, wearing goggles, as he looked over the weapon, examining at every level for imperfections, a long and tedious process. At that point, a beeping sound echoed throughout Chaplin's lab and he looked over, pushing a button to indicating that he had heard the call.

"Chaplin, report on the status of your weaponry," said Karai.

"They should be finished within a few minutes, Mistress Karai, I'm putting the finishing touches on the final batch right now," reported Chaplin, as he tweaked the weapon, as the power levels were able to be properly sustained.

"Chaplin, we have had months to put these together, they should have been done by now," responded Karai in an irritated voice. "What could be the delay?"

"Sorry, but it's taking a bit to fine tune these artifacts, putting together this kind of magical tech is a hard process, even if I had some of the items that Lord Voldemort had given Master Saki during his partnership to study from," remarked Chaplin. "I'll be done in a few minutes, I'm working as fast as possible, I really can't work any quicker…"

"Keep working, get down now, time is a luxury we don't have," said Karai, as she faded off the communication, allowing Chaplin to return to his work.

Karai turned to one of her aides.

"Deploy the Foot Tech Ninjas with their advanced armor and weaponry," ordered Karai curtly as the aide nodded, before he moved out to send the word. "We'll see if we can slow them down a little bit, until Chaplin has completed his work."

The Shredder burst through another set of doors, the heralds gliding behind them, as the demon looked around from side to side. His anger of Karai not coming out to face him straight away was bubbling underneath the service, as he stepped forward, before the Shredder looked forward.

"Show yourself Karai!" shouted the Shredder but at that moment, the Foot Tech Ninjas appeared around them. They circled the Shredder, as they held weaponry out. Shredder prepared to vaporize them, but they pressed the cloaking controls, disappearing in a blink of the eye. The Tengu was caught off guard, but at that moment, several bright blue beams of light erupted from the Shredder. They touched the dangerous Tengu, connecting with him. The Shredder attempted to fight out, but they kept the attack him, the Shredder giving a loud, anguished scream as he attempted to fight from his predicament. The heralds moved forward, but the energy weakened them slightly, as the Shredder was cocooned more and more in the light, legs buckling underneath him. Shredder spread his arms, pushing out.

"Set them to full power, contain him in anyway, he must not be allowed to pass," said a voice from the shadows, as the Shredder further fought against the blasts of magical energy and a crank signaled even more light enveloping the Shredder. The demon dropped down, completely wrapped in sticky blue material, as they hit him with a few more blasts, before they blasted the Shredder with a bit more of the light. The cocoon dropped to the ground, as the Foot Tech Ninjas backed off their weaponry, as they breathed a sigh of the relief. The eyes of the heralds widened, as they moved forward to attempt to free their master, but a loud, inhumane groan echoed from the distance.

A blade ripped from the cocoon, tearing it apart, causing bits of energy to fly off into the distance, as the Shredder completely pulled his way through his prison, the backlash of magical energy messing up the cloaking controls. The Foot Tech Ninjas stood on the ledges around them, completely exposed. In a desperate attempt to put the Shredder back, they pointed their weapons towards him. Before they even had a chance to fire their weapons back on the Shredder, they were enveloped in a blinding black light. The weapons vibrated in their hands, before the Shredder angrily pulled them out of their hands. In a show of power, the weapons spun into the air, before the Shredder slammed them down onto the floor. The weapons busted up, before the Shredder aimed his hands. Green flames burst from his hands, impacting the ledge. The Foot Tech Ninjas dropped to the ground, many of them landing directly on their head from a great height. Turning to the side, Shredder's glowing red eyes lit up the entire room, as even the heralds backed off, from the power exhibited by their master. The Shredder stepped forward towards the next set of doors.

"WILL YOU HIDE FOREVER KARAI?" demanded the Shredder angrily and at that point, Karai kicked her way through the doors, dressed in full Shredder armor, with a tank of some sort of swirling blue material strapped over her back and a sword in her hand, a large thick cable connecting the end of the sword, towards the tank, as she turned to face the Shredder.

"I hide from no one relic!" shouted Karai, as she spun the sword, the blade of it looking rather sharp but the Tengu just remained to stand his ground. The two Shredders were face to face, staring each other down, as the heralds looked on from high above, in anticipation, looking forward to watching their master rip this pretender to shreds. "I'm here to force you back into the grave from which you came."

At that point, the approaching and frantic sound of footsteps was heard. The Shredder turned only a half of an eye off Karai, as five figures, four of them carrying weapons had skidded to a stop at the door.

The Turtles and Harry stopped, a growing feeling of dread enveloping them, they were too late, the Shredder had already gotten to Karai.

"Dispose of these annoyances!" thundered the Shredder to the heralds and sure enough, they advanced on Don, Mikey, Leo, Raph, and Harry, as Raph turned to Leo.

"Remind me again, why should we be saving Karai?" asked Raph, as he saw mystic energy swirling around the heralds, as they moved in for the kill.

"At this point, I don't know," answered Leo shortly, as the heralds rushed forward for the attack.

"Acolytes prepare to join your beloved Ninja Tribunal in the afterlife!" thundered the fire foot mystic, as five blasts of high powered mystic energy shot through the air, right at the quintet of ninjas.


	33. Chapter 33: New World Order Part Two

**Chapter Thirty Three: New World Order Part Two:**

The Turtles and Harry immediately scattered from the multi colored bolts of light, causing them to go around. Raph sprung up, weapon in hand and a large sonic blast of red magical energy flew right at the heralds, putting them backwards, but the heralds reconfigured their attacks, before the Turtles and Harry were backed off by a sudden large gust of wind. The earth mystic moved around and jabbed his staff towards the ground. Before they could react, rocks burst out of the ground, trapping Harry, Raph, Leo, Mikey, and Don. They were pinned down by their arms, struggling, as the heralds looked down on them with sneers.

Karai swung her blade around, deflecting a heavy burst of magical energy back towards the Shredder. Leaping up, Karai dodged another attack and the Shredder raised his hand, before blasting towards Karai. Karai rolled out of the way, as the Shredder burned a hole right through the ground where she stood just seconds earlier. Leaping up, Karai swiped her blade at the Shredder, but the Tengu lifted his hand, blasting Karai backwards. The brunt of the blast impacted the blade and caused her to drop down to the ground. Karai was on her hands and knees, as the Shredder swooped down, an indifferent look on his face, before he pulled his leg back and impacted her right in the side with an amplified kick.

"On your feet little girl, so I can kill you properly!" thundered the Shredder as he magically hoisted her in the air and pulled his arm back. A loud crack echoed and Karai dropped down to the ground, rolling a few feet, before she collapsed down to the ground, as the Turtles and Harry attempted to desperately free themselves, but the heralds just swooped them, taunting them with their laughter.

"Weep not for Karai, but for yourselves, as it was because of you this was happening," taunted the fire mystic and looks of confusion appeared on the face of the trapped ninjas. "For it was you who had sealed her fate."

"What are you talking about?" demanded Harry but at that moment, a bright light engulfed the room, as the heralds spun into the familiar forms of the foot mystics, as they were trapped by the Heart of the Tengu. Looks of horror appeared on the faces of Harry, Raph, Don, Mikey, and Leo, as they saw the figures in front of them. "The mystics."

Harry let out the breath he had been holding in hiss, as the others viciously attempted to struggle themselves out of their predicament.

"Once you stole the artifact for Agent Bishop, you set off the chain of events that let us to allow our master's resurrection!" thundered the earth foot mystic. "It's all that much more glorious knowing that it is all your fault."

The Shredder swooped down, as Karai sprung up, before she knocked the Shredder back with a swipe, sending him spiraling through the air, before she sprung up. A blast dropped Karai backwards, but Karai managed to straight her legs, as she landed on the ground. Karai pushed a button on the sleeve of her armor, blasting a chain out of it, wrapping around the Shredder. Shredder ripped his way through and knocked Karai backwards, sending her spiraling to the ground.

The heralds rose up, aiming their staffs at the five Acolytes, they were going to finish them up once and for all, but unfortunately for them, Harry had managed to cause the rocks to erode, allowing them to free themselves. The group rushed in from the attack, sending high powered attacks, as four of the five amulets glowed with an illuminated light, as the heralds attempted to fight off the renewed attacks. The heralds pushed but the Acolytes pushed back forward, they knew that they had to get Karai out of there, time was running out.

Karai was down on the ground, as the Shredder swooped down right behind her, as she reached for a small vial of a swirling blue substance. The Shredder was right behind her, she could feel the heavy amount of magic that swirled around him.

"Face me," ordered the Shredder, and Karai turned around, before she swung at her opponent, the vial in her hand. The vial busted over the chest of the Shredder and he gave an anguished scream, as it burned right through the chest plate of his armor. "What magic is…"

Karai did not allow the Shredder to finish, as she swung her sword. A swipe of her sword sent the Shredder backwards. She dodged around, before the sword stabbed right into the back of her demonic opponent. Shredder turned around and Karai stabbed the sword right into the chest, staggering him backwards. Leaping up, with an intense look on her face, Karai smashed the sword right into the top of the helmet. Moving around, carefully aiming the sword, Karai vicious smashed it into the Shredder. The Tengu rushed dropped to the ground and Karai dived towards it, impaling the sword right into the chest of her opponent. Shredder dropped to his knees, as the helmet dropped off of his head, as he looked up at Karai, just as she moved in for the kill. Karai stalled, as she saw the wounded human face of her father staring up at her, a disappointed look etched in his eyes.

"Father," whispered Karai as she stepped back, loosening her grip on the weapon as she regarded her father.

"My child," said Saki, before his face contorted into the lifeless, pale face of the tengu, with glowing red eyes and fangs, as he hoisted Karai up into the air, before blasting her backwards. Shredder removed the sword from his chest, before he placed his hand on his chest, healing the large hole in it, before he regarded Karai with amusement, before he blasted her backwards more. "You mortals were always so fun to toy with, playing with your emotions, it makes you weak, pathetic, easily defeated!"

Karai just barely avoided the attack, as off in the distance, the five heralds were blasted up into the ceiling. A loud rumble echoed throughout the temple and Leo, Raph, Don, Mikey, and Harry charged forward, but the fire foot mystic used his staff to erect a large wall of fire in front of them, before the heralds swooped down. The four Turtles and Harry were knocked onto their backs, as they pushed down the mystic attacks on them. They watched, as the wall solidified to solid stone, trapping them from helping Karai.

Karai dove towards her sword, but a solid black light enveloped it. The Shredder twirled his wrist, causing the sword to turn right into a giant black snake, with glowing red eyes. It bared its fangs at Karai as it lunged right at her, forcing Karai to step back, as the demonic Shredder looked on approvingly, as he put his helmet back on his head.

"Now it's just the three of us," said the Shredder coldly, eyes glowing red with dark magical energy swirling around him, as he watched Karai duck and dodge the attacks of the snake. It was an interesting game of cat and mouse, a few moments in which the Tengu could amuse himself, watching the pretender suffer at his serpent's wrath.

From behind the wall, Harry just barely deflected a burst of fire back towards his attacker, as he watched Mikey avoid steel spikes being shot out of him from high above, as Leo managed to burn through the rocks that moved towards him.

"So, so much for getting Karai and getting out, huh," grunted Raph, as he blasted through a current of water, before moving up, in an attempt to blast the water foot mystic back but the mystic twisted into water, before it splashed around. It turned into solid ice and knocked Raph backwards, causing him to smash into the wall shell first, as Don blasted the wind attacks of the mystic back at him. "Seems to be a bit more trouble than it's worth…don't you think."

"Yes," agreed Harry, as he put a shield of ice in front of him. The fire attacks ate through the ice, but it gave Harry just enough cover, before he sent jets of water backwards, towards the fire mystic, but the mystic handily dodged those attacks. "Still, as Master Splinter…"

Harry never finished as he had to throw himself out of the way, to avoid getting lit up like a roman candle. Conjuring enough water to douse a small fire, Harry threw caution to the wind and blasted it right towards the mystic. The mystic managed to dodge some of the assault, but not all of it, as the water cooled him down. Harry watched as his opponent drop to the ground. Quickly, Harry sprung forward, before he blasted the earth mystic into the path of Don. A heavy blast of wind dropped the earth mystic, sending him crashing down to the ground.

"Let's get this done and get it done now!" yelled Leo as a burst of flames from his weapon had struck the metal mystic. The mystic dropped down to the ground, winded, as the water mystic moved forward. Mikey raised his hand before he burst forward at the speed of light, causing a whirlpool effect around the water mystic. The mystic splashed up into the air, giving a loud shriek, before it slammed down onto the ground hard.

That left the wind mystic alone against the five Turtles. The mystic dived in for the attack, but the Acolytes were ready, combining their attacks into one. It sliced towards the mystic's power, pushing him back and a loud thunderous crash echoed throughout the distance, as the mystic was put down.

The snake had wrapped itself around Karai, pulling her up to face the Shredder. The Shredder motioned for the snake to pull Karai to face him, before he stared at the woman, who was struggling. Waving his hand, the Shredder pulled the helmet off the imposter off. The helmet dropped to the ground, before it had crushed right under the Shredder's foot as he reached forward, cupping Karai's chin in his hand, staring at her, red eyes glowing madly.

"Such a coarse exterior, perhaps something more womanly lurks beneath the service," said the Shredder, before he laughed as the serpent relaxed its grasp on Karai, allowing the Shredder to move in. Black light enveloped Karai, causing her armor to rattle. The armor was yanked off one piece at a time, causing them to crash down to the ground. Before the Shredder could get any further in humiliating Karai, the wall blown down, allowing the four Turtles and Harry to step forward, to face down the Shredder. The Shredder turned around, before me motioned for his serpent to attack them. Harry just stood there, facing the serpent, placing a spell on him that caused serpents to be compelled to obey Parselmouths.

"STOP!" yelled Harry as the serpent stopped in its tracks, hovering in the air, as Harry stood there speaking to the serpent. "I am your master, not him, attack the Shredder!"

A few seconds pause before the Shredder's eyes widened as the serpent dove towards him, wrapping around him. Shredder fought his own creation, which allowed Karai to drop to the ground. Leo and Mikey rushed forward, grabbing Karai, helping her to her feet, but Karai just angrily wrenched her hands away from them, looking disgusted that her enemies would be the one's to help her.

"I guess that means, no thank you," remarked Mikey sarcastically, as the Shredder ripped the serpent away. The serpent dropped to the ground, turning back to the sword, as the Shredder faced them.

"BLAST HIM ALL AT ONCE!" yelled Leo desperately and five bolts of mystical energy impacted the Shredder forcing him backwards. The Shredder blasted from the wall and landed on the other side.

"So it's over then," said Don hopefully.

"No, too easy," replied Harry grimly and sure enough, the Shredder burst through the walls, levitated in the air, dark magical energy swirling around him, as he moved towards the group.

"I wish you wouldn't have said that," muttered Raph as the Shredder looked down at them, utter contempt etched on his face.

"This is all you have to defeat me," stated the Shredder coldly, as he looked at the group. "Pathetic."

"Yeah, well we handled your little heralds nicely, I think," challenged Raph, as they stepped back, revealing the downed heralds, who looked rather pained at the beating they've taken, but the Shredder was unconcerned, as he turned to them.

"Foolish children, these are just the lowest of my minions!" thundered the Shredder as a shield of black light erupted from around the Shredder, causing no one to be able to pass, as the Shredder transformed that floor of Foot Headquarters into a graveyard. The Shredder pointed down to the ground, which rumbled right beneath them. "Long departed Foot warriors and arch fiends of the past arise, arise to do your master's bidding, the bidding of Shredder. Destroy these meddlesome fools along with the usurper."

The ground beneath them began to burst, as several demonic looking figures burst from below, pulling themselves from up, advancing on the Turtles, Harry, and Karai. From above, there was a swirling vortex of blue light, as the Shredder motioned upwards, summoning several winged demons with fangs, as they breathed fire in the air, that raised the temperature by several dozen degrees, as the Shredder laughed at the obvious discomfort at the group, as his undead legions moved forward for the attack, ready to trample their way over anyone who dared stand in their master's way.

"Brace yourselves, it will be a long road to fight our way through this," commented Karai, breaking the silence.

"Oh, now you're buddy, buddy," challenged Raph, but Karai just responded with an irritated glance, as she ducked out of the way of a demon that dove right out of her. Don moved in and knocked the demon backwards with a huge burst of wind, causing him to fly several feet backwards.

"For the moment," replied Karai, as Harry blasted a steel cord out of mid air, before he pulled a flying demon right out of air, sending him spiraling into a trio of Inferi Foot Ninjas. On the other side, Mikey ran out the undead assassins, confusing them with a vortex of wind around them. That allowed Don to move it, spinning through the air like a corkscrew. The demonic warriors were dropped and Leo swung his weapon on the other end. Two of them burst into flames, giving anguished, inhumane shrieks, as they were slowly reduced to ash. Sliding forward, Leo ducked underneath the vicious assault of his attacker, before he blasted him right in the back. The demon screamed as it spontaneously combusted, as Mikey wiped out another one on the other end, with an assault of his own, as Harry froze a demon moving towards him. The minion dropped to the ground, shattering in several pieces from the impact.

"Hey, maybe we got a shot at beating these things," stated Mikey in an optimistic voice, as he watched Harry somersault off to the side. Two winged creatures dove towards him but expertly, Harry flung shuriken from his sleeves. The second the shuriken struck the demons, the minions crumbled into dust. They dropped to the ground, as Karai ripped the sword from the hand of her attacker, before she slashed it in the chest. The undead creature was ripped in half and Leo dodged, sending a blast of fire through the ground. More Inferi ninjas burst into flames at the hands of Leo's weapon, as Harry threw more shuriken at the winged demons as they dove at him. Once again, thanks to the potion inside, they were reduced to stone and then turned to dust. Harry privately thanked the genius of Salazar Slytherin, before he conjured a large stone and blasted it right into the back of a zombie Foot ninja, as it had Mikey pinned down. The undead warrior turned around, but Raph had come from above, a large sonic blast from high above ripped it to pieces. Worms crawled from its grizzly remains of the zombie assassin.

The Shredder just stood in his place, amused that these pathetic worms thought they were actually winning against such a small and miniscule group of opponents. From the sky, more winged demons dove down from the heavens, cycling around the Turtles, Harry, and Karai. From the ground, more undead warriors rose up from the depths, almost on their own accord.

"Stay sharp everyone, the worst is yet to come!" advised Harry, as he shot a sharp metal spike. The spike ripped through the exposed skin of one of the undead warriors, dropping him to the ground, as Raph swung his weapon, a loud sonic boom echoed throughout the sky and took him out. From above, Leo was hoisted up by two of the winged demons. Acting quickly, Harry used a shuriken to impact one of the demons. The demon turned to stone, allowing Leo's arm to free and Leo to swing his foot up, taking his opponent out, before Don sprung up, knocking the opponent back through the portal. Leo dropped down, impacting a heavy burst of flames, incinerating a small pocket of demons right where they stood.

"They just keep coming," growled Raph as he used his weapon to hoist up one of the Inferi ninjas, before a burst of fire courtesy of Harry had backed them off even further. Raph swung his captive right into an entire group of winged demons. Both groups were knocked back to the portal, but the winged creatures returned, with several of their friends.

"I know, just keep it up, don't stop for anything," encouraged Leo, as he blasted one of the Inferi off of the side of the building. The Inferi fell over, shattering into pieces in the alley behind it below.

"And he's just sitting there, enjoying the show," added Raph under his breath, as the Shredder was still on the side of the ledge, enjoying everything that was going down in the battle. At that point, a green burst of smoke appeared and when it cleared, what was once the Foot Elite appeared in front of them, lifeless, pale skin, inhumane groaning, and large gaping holes in their chest, as they moved right towards Karai, directed in their attacks by the Shredder.

"That's all we need, undead Foot Elite Guard," said Don, as he managed to rip through the zombie warrior that he was fighting it with a jagged burst of wind, as he desperately looked off over towards the side. "We have to do something."

"Sorry, but we have enough problems," said Harry, straining to take a breath as he forced about fifteen of the warriors backwards with a burst of fire, before he flung his shuriken up into the air. Three of them hit three of the winged demons and more were turned to stone. Relief that at least their job would be only slightly easier, the Turtles and Harry continued to press on, as Karai had managed to slice her way towards a small group of Inferi, but one of the transformed Foot Elite had pulled her sword from her hand. With unnatural strength, the sword snapped in half. Karai stepped back, as the Shredder directed the resurrected Elites towards Karai.

The Elite had Karai cornered, the others were far off, barely able to fight their adversaries off, much less help Karai. At that moment, several blue lights flew from the distance, impacting two of the Elites. The other two soon followed, as several more unfortunate Inferi had been reduced to nothingness, as Chaplin and what few Foot Ninjas that the Shredder had not slain moved forward, blasting forward.

"Sorry, we're late, Mistress Karai, the last minute adjustments took a bit more time than I had anticipated," apologized Chaplin but Karai just calmly looked at him.

"Weapon," said Karai shortly and Chaplin handed Karai a weapon, who had aimed it towards a group of winged demons who had dove out of the sky, reducing them into tiny wisps of magic in the air.

"It was just a matter of calibrating the ionization coil, to withstand the synthetic magical energy," said Chaplin proudly as the Foot Ninjas blasted right through. "With that it managed to only use a small amount of magic, but it packs a heavy punch…"

"What is that feeble little monkey chattering about?" demanded the Shredder, looking at Chaplin with absolutely annoyance, but his eyes widened, as several of his minions were obliterated from the attack from the modified weapons, allowing the Turtles and Harry to fight through, taking them all out

"Keep at it, he's not going to let us win for long," said Harry as he threw more shuriken upwards, striking more of the winged demons. They turned to stone from the impact and dropped to the ground, as Harry reached in for more, but much to his horror he was out of his solidified petrifying potion shuriken. Thinking fast, Harry shot metal cables into the air, wrapping into the demons, pulling them down into the air, allowing Leo and Raph to take them out with attacks, as the Shredder seemed to concentrate even more power, to summon more of his arch fiends of the past. "Keep fighting, he's starting to spread his attacks too thin, maybe we can finish it."

"Let's hope so," agreed Leo hopefully, as Mikey impaled one of the Inferi with Raph busting another one of the Inferi into pieces from his attack. Harry moved forward, shooting a variety of mystic attacks at the winged demons, while desperately thinking of a way he could shut the portal, to stop the Shredder from summoning a few more.

"End this down, destroy them!" ordered the Shredder in thunderous anger and sure enough, one of the winged demons dove right towards one of the ninjas with the blaster. The horns of its head impaled right into the chest of the ninja dropping him to the ground. Blood dripped to the ground, as the Shredder waved his head, resurrecting the fallen warrior into one of his mindless undead minions, who moved towards Harry. Harry quickly picked up the weapon that the fallen assassin had dropped and aimed right towards him. A blast had found its mark, ripping right through the undead minion. Harry back flipped over the charge of the attacker and moved his way, blasting right through the others, as he motioned for his brothers to move forward, talking to them through the side of his mouth, as he noticed something rather peculiar about the Shredder's attacks.

"Guys, he's directing all of his attacks towards Karai," muttered Harry as he managed to fight of another of the Shredder's seemingly endless army of minions. "He isn't even too concerned about us right now, he's just keeping us back, if we can find a hole in his assault, we might be able to shut him down for good."

They nodded, as the winged demons continued to come in from high above. Harry looked high above towards the portal, the rip that was allowing all of the winged demons to dive into this dimension. Quickly, Harry aimed the energy weapon upwards and pulled the trigger. A coil released a high amount of energy into the rift through time and space. Harry kept it up, amplifying the power of the weapon, as the rift had closed. A few more winged demons had moved forward, but the portal was shut. Harry's legs buckled, feeling a bit exhausted, as he watched his brothers drop several more of their adversaries. Breathing heavily, Harry moved back, blasting several of the Inferi, as a couple of the Foot Ninjas dropped around him.

The Shredder advanced on Karai as she was grabbed from behind by several of the Shredder's minions. The battle continued, as the remaining minions were keeping the Turtles and Harry sufficiently occupied, as the Shredder raised his foot, before he stepped on the magically created weapon, busting it into pieces, before he raised his gauntlet high in the air, above Karai's throat.

"Now we finish this," said the Shredder as Chaplin's eyes widened in horror, as he managed to blast a winged demon out of the way, before he aimed the weapon right towards the Shredder.

"You stay away from her!" cried Chaplin as he pulled the trigger, before the recoil of magical energy from the weapon sliced right through the Shredder's chest. Slowly the Shredder, turned to Chaplin. The Shredder, with a gaping hole in his chest, regarded Chaplin coldly, before bursting out in a cold, yet highly amused, round of laughter, as he took several steps forward.

"So futile, so pathetic, such a waste of a tiny amount of power," said the Shredder, as he pushed his hand to his chest, healing the wound in the chest, as if nothing had happened, before Shredder had blasted the ground below Chaplin. Chaplin staggered backwards, as he fell right down to the ground, before the Shredder turned his attention, as Karai attempted to struggle, managing to take out one of the undead ninjas, but two more swooped in. The Turtles and Harry had their hands full, despite the portal being closed, as a sword appeared in his hand. "And now, it may be long overdue, but it's time for us to say farewell."

The Shredder lifted the sword up and stabbed it right into Karai's stomach. Karai's eyes rolled slightly into the back of her head, as she dropped right down to the ground. The demons backed off, soon, she would perish, the Shredder's work was done and now with the imposter out of the way, he could focus on the world.

"The Shredder just took out Karai like she was nothing!" yelled Raph, as a couple of the Inferi smashed down to the ground, they were tired, winded, as there were way too many for the five of them.

"And, our chances of beating the Shredder are dwindling," added Mikey desperately, as he was pinned down by a group of the undead minions, but Leo swung his weapon, backing them off, allowing Harry to fire bursts of fire towards them.

"I hate to say this, but I don't think we ever really even had much of a chance," said Harry in a desperate voice, as he watched his brothers press on with a battle that had taken a lot out of him, but the Shredder turned around, to turn his full attention to them all. "Focus, we have to try and unleash it right now.

"What are you talking about Harry?" demanded Raph but then something clicked in his brain, as he wiped out another Inferi with a half hearted, but surprisingly successful, attack. "Harry, none of us have been able to come close, not even you."

"First time for everything," inputted Don as his attacks ripped through another pair of enemies, as they crowded around, as the Shredder moved forward, the five heralds also rising up to the ashes, to enjoy what they had assumed to be the demise of their enemies.

"Yes, Harry's right, we've got to focus, achieve the highest level of our mental plane's just like Con said," remarked Leo, as the others nodded, as four of the five amulets began to glow at a full vibrant light.

"Well, I didn't read all those books for nothing," muttered Raph, as he prepared his mind, hoping that this would work when it had counted the most.

"I didn't even read any of those books," complained Mikey, but there was little time to focus on this minor setback. Harry looked around, he felt an intense amount of power, the likes of which he had never felt before in his life, as he watched four lights, purple, orange, blue, and red shoot up into the sky above. The Shredder stepped forward to investigate the source, but Harry felt himself floating in mid air. The heralds gasped, as they saw four very distinct forms circling around them in mid air, the Turtles standing on the ground, eyes completely shut, as they focused on their forms.

"DRAGONS!" gasped the fire mystic.

Harry rose several more inches. He felt his body shift, a queasy feeling coming throughout his body. It was similar to the feeling that he felt when he had turned into his raven Animagus form the first time, multiplied ten fold.

"Four of them, impossible," remarked the water mystic but they looked over, as Harry contorted into a large dragon construct made of pure magical energy as the heralds gasped.

"Five," gasped the wind mystic, but the Shredder just seemed to be rather unimpressed with what he had seen high above.

"There is nothing to be feared by these insignificant lizards," scoffed the Shredder, as he moved forward, but five bolts of pure magical energy impacted the Shredder right in the chest. The Shredder screamed, as the magic sliced into him. They were aiming to kill, the Shredder pushed back as the heralds backed off and his other minions vanished, the Shredder was unable to sustain keeping them in this dimension. In a blink of the eye, the Shredder shifted, before he transformed into his dragon form, larger than the five the acolytes had managed. He dove, breathing fire towards his enemies, as he attempted to push them backwards.

Right below Foot Headquarters, a police officer was shooing a very curious looking group of people back from behind a barricade.

"Move along folks, come on, that's it, nothing to see here," stated the officer before a loud explosion echoed from above and the officer turned around, awed look etched in his eyes, as he saw the multi colored swirl of energy from energy. It was a brilliant, nearly paralyzing sight, as the officer slowly lifted up his communicator. "Hey dispatch, get down to the Saki Memorial Library, you've got to see this."

The Shredder was pushed down suddenly by sheer force of will, right into his five heralds. They busted right through the top of the building, smashing down through floor after floor, before the Turtles dropped to their knees. Harry slowly returned, dropping down to the ground, looking dazed and confused, as Mikey and Leo caught him, allowing Harry to hold himself up. Once Harry got up, the group looked at each other.

"That was so cool," said Mikey in an awed voice, but Harry just groaned, glad that his animagus form turned out to be small, because it hurt like hell to transform.

"What about Karai?" asked Leo and Don moved over to bend down.

"She's breathing, barely," remarked Don and Harry stepped over, before he placed a slight stasis charm on Karai.

"This should stabilize her until we can get her to a safe place," said Harry as he looked up, as the helicopter that once belonged to Agent Bishop had descended. Hailey pushed open the side, allowing Harry to sit in, beside Ginny, as the Ancient One and Master Splinter looked on, as the Turtles carried an unconscious Karai inside. "Let's go."

The helicopter escaped, as the five heralds rose out of the rubble, looking rather worse for wear, as they watched it disappear into the night.

"No, the Turtles and the Chosen One, the one they call Harry Potter, have escaped!" cried the water mystic desperately.

"And with Karai," added the earth mystic in an irritated voice.

"I am finished with Karai!" thundered the Shredder, as the angry Tengu rose out of the rubble, back in his normal form. "This world, it's much different than what I remember, so much of it I do not understand, therefore I will change it back to an exact duplicate of what I had known. It will be fit for my rule and my rule alone. And no one will be able to stand in my way whenever it's done."

In the helicopter, Harry looked off, troubling worries deep inside. They had thrown everything they had at the Shredder, but it had only just manage to slow him down.

"It's not over," said Harry, as Ginny grabbed his hand, but she looked as worried as he was.

"Unfortunately, I agree, Harry," remarked Master Splinter quietly, as a loud thunder clap echoed in the distance. "It's just begun."


	34. Chapter 34: Enter the Dragons Part One

**Chapter Thirty Four: Enter the Dragons Part One:**

To say that New York City had descended into chaos within the past few days would be the understatement of the century. High above the city, in his fortress, the Shredder watched in glee at the terror of the citizens of this foul city. He would have sooner allowed this city sink into the ocean, but even he had to admit that it did had its uses. Now he had transformed it into something more suitable, the skies as red as the blood that was spilled by any foolish enough to stand in his way and his armies patrolling the streets, ensuring that no one would be foolish enough to opposite him. The fear exhibited by these mortals would give his power the necessary fuel to envelope the entire world and after he sucked this world dry, he would be able to move onto the next world and the next, his empire growing with each passing moment. The power was almost intoxicating, soon he would have all and rule everything.

A loud scream echoed throughout the city. It was music to the Shredder's ears, as he ruled from high above from his fortress, sitting on his throne. This was not ancient Japan, but it would have to do for the time being. Power was power and the Tengu was pleased at the amount that he had summoned to himself in a short amount of time.

Back in the lair, Master Splinter and the Ancient One stood intently, awaiting, waiting patiently for the next phase of what could very well have mounted to a last ditch assault to take out the Shredder and his vile minions. Off to the side, Karai sat to the side, physically healed from her battle with the dangerous demon, but the mental scars were still evident. She stood awaiting, as foot steps approached from the tunnel leading from the Potter Residence to the lair.

"Harry's said that they are getting in position to make the contacts, it will only be a matter of moments before it's done, so we should get to the appointed meeting place," remarked Hailey and Master Splinter nodded, before he rose to his feet, leaning on his walking stick, as he turned.

"I'd be foolish if I did not have my misgivings about this, but truthfully, it's going to take a lot of help for us to even be close to finishing off the Shredder, but I do hope that my sons remember to exercise caution when making the contacts," remarked Master Splinter.

"I'm sure he will, Harry's overseeing it all to make sure it all goes well and beside, he was sorted into Slytherin for a reason," stated Hailey confidently.

"Indeed, Splinter-san, it will all work out in the end, it will have to, or…" said the Ancient One before he trailed off and they all knew that the world would doomed if they failed to stop the Shredder. More to clear his head than anything, he slowly turned his attention towards Karai, as she still sat, an intense look etched in her eyes. "And, you young lady, are you ready?"

"I say we should strike at the heart of the demon's strong hold and rip him from his power as soon as possible, leaving nothing left!" said Karai firmly and the Ancient One and Master Splinter exchanged knowing looks, before they each nodded.

"She's ready," commented the Ancient One as they all walked towards the exit to the lair.

In the Purple Dragons Headquarters, Hun stood, rocket launcher over his shoulder, as his Purple Dragons stood, weapons at the ready. With a distasteful glare, Hun looked from high above, as the winged demons were flying in the reddened sky, before he armed his bazooka, before he motioned for his Purple Dragons to move around.

"Those undead uglies want a fight, well we'll give them one, Purple Dragons style," grunted Hun, cracking his knuckles, as the other Dragons raised their fists into the air and cheered, but at that second, the door creaked open. Two figures came out of the shadows. Instinctively, the Purple Dragons turned, before they began firing on their guest. A heavy stream of laser fire impacted, but the group moved around, before tipping over a stack of crates. The thugs fought their way through, as Hun looked above. "There they go, that way, don't let them get away!"

Unfortunately, the two mysterious figures had done just that, but since Hun's attention was grabbed, an object dropped out from the vent on the roof, landing right onto Hun's head. Hun clutched his head, as he staggered forward, before he saw a Shell Cell laying on the floor.

"What the…" started Hun but the device began ringing. Quickly, Hun picked it up, before he activated a button on the side and placed it up to his ear. "Alright, you've got my attention, but this had better be good."

On the other side of the city, in the Earth Protection Force Headquarters inside an abandoned gas station, several commandos fired laser blasters upwards, as others moved around, attempting to maintain the defenses they were having defects in it. Bishop moved around, weapon placed over his shoulder, as he blasted heavy blasts upwards, blowing right through a rotting hand that attempted to push through. Stockman, in a giant spider like body with a holographic head, move around, as he pointed his laser blasters upwards, in an attempt to assist with the defenses, but the windows around them were cracking.

"Agent Bishop sir, the shields are down to only thirty percent," said one of the commandos, as they attempted to push the doors shut, but loud pounding from the outside had indicated that they would be unable to hold the line for much longer. One of the windows from above swung open, but Bishop just fired his weapon upwards, incinerating whatever had moved, before he turned to Stockman.

"What's going on, what's happening to this city, why aren't our defenses holding?" demanded Bishop as he looked at Stockman through narrowed eyes over his glasses. "These are questions that I require answers to immediately, Stockman. "

"I don't know what could be causing this, Agent Bishop," said Stockman as he looked up apprehensively, as the commandos fell down, as the doors burst open, revealing about a dozen Inferi warriors step in. The commandos attempted to use their weapons to push them back, but the undead assassins were absolutely relentless. "All I know is that this time, this is not my fault."

Right in front of them, a blast of blue magical fire impacted the Inferi in the back. In a blink of an eye, they crumbled right to dust right before their eyes. Bishop looked high above, as he watched the winged demons from high above get blasted as well. Looking down, a Shell Cell slid right towards his feet and it began ringing. Bishop bent at his knees, picking up the Shell Cell before he put it up to his right ear.

"I'm listening," stated Bishop shortly, as he held the phone, listening to the communication on the other side.

On the outside, the self appointed vigilante known as Nobody watched as a group of civilians were being terrorized by an army of demons. While this was different than the usual group of low lives Nobody dealt with, he still needed to do something to help. Lifting his wrist, a grapping hook shot out, latching onto a ledge across the street. He swung around, knocking both of his feet into the demons. The demons staggered backwards, before they moved towards Nobody, who took a smoke bomb out and threw it at the demons. The air around them filled, as the creatures were backed off.

"Away, I don't know how long I can hold these things way," ordered Nobody curtly and the civilians did not hesitate to obey, as the demons fought through the smoke. Nobody pulled back his fist and impacted it right into the chest of his supernatural opponent, but he dropped down to the ground, in pain. Quickly, he removed a gas canister and flung it at them, giving him the proper cover to recover but before the demons could advance on him, a set of three shuriken came from the air, impacting the demons right in the back. The demons turned around, transforming into stone. The stone crumbled into dust and when the air was cleared, a Shell Cell laid on the ground, ringing. Quickly, Nobody picked it up. "Yes, I'm here."

Back at the old lair, Harry, the Turtles, and Ginny had entered the lair, where Karai, Master Splinter, the Ancient One, Chaplin, and Hailey were awaiting.

"Well?" demanded Karai.

"We've made contact," confirmed Harry coolly with a nod of his head, regarding Karai with distrust. After the last time, when she had invaded the lair with a Foot army, Harry did not exactly like the idea of having her recover at the new one. Unfortunately, it was the safest place, as even the Potter Residence was just barely able to hold their defenses against the growing dark magic in the city. Still, once this was all over, Harry would be ready with memory charms, for both Karai and Chaplin.

"Should be arriving at any moment in fact," said Leo.

"Just arrived," grunted Hun and the group turned around, despite being prepared for this, it was still a bit of a shock to see Hun and the Purple Dragons walk into the lair, weapons at the ready, before Hun stared them down. "Well, you wanted us here and now we're here."

"Wait a minute, you asked Hun for help. That proves it, you must really be desperate for help," scoffed Stockman, as he walked forward, along with Agent Bishop and a small army of commandos. Bishop just regarded them with cool indifference, before turning towards Stockman.

"Stockman save your disdain for another time, we are here on business of protecting the world," remarked Bishop. "Although, I'm rather curious of why you would turn to us, given our past."

"It's not exactly something we really wanted to do, but it had to be done," admitted Harry and Bishop just responded with a nod, but Stockman had a sudden look of realization, as he saw that the group in the lair was outnumbered

"Of course, the better question would be what would stop us from teaming up and eliminating the whole lot of you right away," remarked Stockman and Hun's face contorted into a smirk, along with the other Purple Dragons, as Bishop just stood off in the distance, not bothering to show any emotion or comment.

"Them," remarked Harry, as members of his resistance group that had escaped to New York had pointed their wands downwards, ready to defend from attacks at a moment's notice, along with Leatherhead and Nobody, who both could handle themselves without magic, before Harry turned towards Bishop, Hun, Stockman, and their collective associates. "Now, Salazar knows, I don't like any of you at all, but the threat out there is much more dangerous than everything that we have ever known."

"Harry is correct, the original Shredder is both extremely skilled at the darkest magic and extremely skilled in fighting, a poisonous combination, especially when combined with the armies that he can command with a mere wave of his hand," explained Master Splinter and the group just stood there, intently watching. "He will stop at nothing to ensure that anyone who think's he's a threat is disposed of."

"Yes, I can see why all of you would be in trouble, but I got along alright with the Utrom Shredder once and he's nothing but a squishy alien bug," remarked Hun in an arrogant voice, as he turned towards the Purple Dragons. "So you can fight this Shredder if you want, but I think we Purple Dragons are safe."

"You are in more trouble than anyone else," interjected Ginny. "The Shredder doesn't take too kindly to anyone who's worked for Ch'rell."

"Yes, it is a wonder that you haven't gotten killed yet, Hun," added Harry. "But, if you want to go back into the city and take your chances, with your inferior weapons, then go ahead."

"Hun, perhaps you will not believe Potter, but trust me, I was attacked most viciously by the Shredder," said Karai. "He cares nothing of what my father has done in the past. He only cares about himself and his power.

"Now, are you all in this or not?" demanded Raph, as he held the weapon, along with the others who stared intently.

"The Earth Protection Force has pledged to protect humanity to all threats and while this is a bit out of my normal scope, it is my job to deal with it," remarked Bishop firmly turning to his commandos. "We will do whatever it takes to assist you in this mission to defeat the Shredder."

Hun and the Purple Dragons just stood for a couple of minutes, before they all nodded, but also made plans to bail out if the heat go too hot.

"So, what's the plan to beat this new Shredder anyway?" asked Stockman before he looked around, snidely. "You do have a plan, don't you?"

"The Shredder is a very powerful demon, a tengu," explained the Ancient One. "Very difficult to injure, almost impossible to kill…"

"And it's been proven that while his essence has never been completely eliminated, his physical form as been an Achilles heel," said Master Splinter. "If we can weaken enough, there is a chance we can banish him right back to where he came from, but it would take some careful maneuvering that could dreadfully wrong."

"This is where I come in, as we've figured that all of the people to take the mantle of the Shredder share a link to that demon," said Karai. "I hope to exploit that link to cripple his power reserves, making it easier to defeat him."

"Yes and when Karai has drained away as much of the Shredder's dark energy as she could, we will come in for the kill and to do this, we're going to have to separate the helmet and gauntlet from his body to further weaken his power," remarked Harry as he turned towards his brothers, nodding significantly. "The rest of you will have to deal with his demon hordes, but the weapons that Doctor Chaplin created should give an extra edge and I'm sure the Earth Protection Force will have a few tricks up their sleeves."

Bishop's calculating look gave Harry all the confirmation he needed about his theory, as Chaplin also nodded, looking rather excited.

"All the modification you suggested have been made, we should be good to go," remarked Chaplin, who looked rather pleased with his work.

"The American Wizarding Government Aurors are doing their best to keep the Shredder's minions contained in the city," said Lily and they looked a bit relieved at this, it would be much easier to face off against a threat that was inside one city, as opposed to spread out throughout many directions. "It's going to take everything they have, but if we get this done within the next couple of hours, they should be able to keep them back."

"Right, everything appears to be in order," said Harry as he looked around, awaiting any more suggestions at things he had overlooked but none come, so Harry took a deep calming breath, as he looked at everyone, friends, family, and enemies alike, as they all awaited his next words. "We need to fight like we've never fought before and remember, the Shredder must be stopped at all costs."

Back at the Shredder's fortress, the five heralds were crowded around, with only a half of an eye towards the chaos outside. While they would never voice their objections out loud, they were very displeased about some of their master's recently decisions.

"The Shredder is a fool not to have eliminated Karai by now," said the fire mystic, eyes towards the door, not wanting to voice these thoughts while his master is too close. "Allowing her to live mocks his very legacy, and everything he's achieved."

"We can do nothing," voiced the metal mystic. "The Shredder has the city under his control, it won't be long before Karai is eliminated at the least, she can't hide forever. It is unfortunate he is not taking a more proactive approach to the problem, but her demise is inevitable."

Outside the Shredders fortress, it was patrolled by an army of undead warriors. From the shadows, Harry looked forward, everyone else behind him, as they awaited the word. Harry nodded, as he saw a very noticeable flaw in the Shredder's security. In an instant, a group of figures came out, weapons blasting. The Inferi turned around and gave a blood curdling shriek, as the weapons cut right through them. More blasts impacted as more warriors got through. Several more rushed through from the other side but a loud bang indicated that they were wrapped up in thick cords. Seeing them immobilized, Harry flung shuriken at them and seconds later, they turned to stone, before they properly crumbled to dust. Leaping down, Don cut through a trio of demons, slicing through them with a large burst of wind. A sonic blast from Raph knocked them backwards and Mikey rushed right towards them, knocking them down. Their adversaries were in perfect position for Leo to swing his weapon, impacting them with flames. Ashes fluttered to the ground as even more walked forward.

"Great, how are we going to get past these things if they keep fighting us?" grunted Hun as he opted for the old fashion method of punching an undead warrior, dropping it to the ground, as the Purple Dragons fired their weapons, backing them off, as Karai moved in, slicing her way through her enemies. The warriors ripped roughly in half, blood dripping to the ground.

Bishop threw a pair of grenades to the ground, blasting back several supernatural foes. This left the door open for his commandos to assault them with weapons, backing them off. The winged demons dove down, but Sirius had shot a slicing curse at it. The wings were cut off and the demon fell to the down, dropping down, where Remus had shot a blue spell at it. The demon froze in its tracks, allowing Lily to finish it off. The demon swelled up and its insides burst, sending blood splattering in every which direction.

"We need a door, now!" shouted Don as he took out one of the undead warriors as a winged demon dove at him, but was blasted backwards by Hailey and Ginny, allowing Harry to deliver the finishing touches.

"Stockman, your move," commented Bishop shrewdly, as Stockman's spider body moved forward, blasting a demon to the side, as he turned towards the stone wall.

"Once again, my genius used as a blunt weapon," said Stockman dryly, but he obeyed and blasted right through the wall. A hole appeared in the wall as Stockman stepped back, admiring his handiwork, which allowed the Turtles and Harry to slip in first, followed by Karai and others. Leatherhead grabbed one of the undead warriors handily, the croc growling as he ripped right into the skin, tearing him in half. The croc rushed through another one, swinging his tail, causing them to burst into the wall, as Harry blasted open the front doors of the Shredder's fortress, allowing the others to follow behind him. Thinking quickly, if he knew the Shredder, he would be on the very top floor, no doubt to position himself above everyone else. The fortress also had many of his minions swarming the floors, the Shredder obviously not putting his full faith in the guards outside of the fortress.

In Britain, at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Voldemort sat quietly, in a secluded dark room. It had been eighteen months since had taken complete control of Britain, using Hogwarts as a training ground for the future members of his Death Eater army. With a larger army, Voldemort could extend his influence outside of Britain. It was a slow, tedious process, as some embraced the process, while some were rather reluctant to embrace Voldemort's philosophies on the world. However, once their families had been taken in "protective custody" by the Ministry of Magic, many were all too willing to comply. Even he had to admit that some had great potential, even more then some of his current Death Eaters.

A knock on the door outside of the room brought Voldemort out of his thoughts. His slit like eyes slowly moved, up, as he gazed at the door.

"Enter," prompted Voldemort calmly and the door opened, to allow Peter Pettigrew entrance. Pettigrew walked towards Voldemort, before he knelt down before him. "To your feet, Wormtail."

"My lord, there have been strange magical fluctuations in the west, somewhere in the United States of America," reported Wormtail and Voldemort did not respond for at least a minute, before he took a deep breath.

"I am well aware of these strange fluctuations, I can feel something powerful in the air," responded Voldemort. "Leave me Wormtail, I am currently exploring my options, if it affects me, I will take action, but we shall do nothing at the moment."

Wormtail nodded, before he walked off, as Voldemort sat. Truthfully, he did have his sights set on the United States, there were several untapped sources of magic that could be exploited for his benefit. However, Voldemort had studied history intently and had learned from the dark lords of the past, their mistakes that lead to their downfall. Many of them had gotten greedy and extended their power too far, spreading their resources too thin too soon. When he took control of the Ministry, it was calculated at the right time for his goals. Other countries would be conquered, once Voldemort grew his army. His Death Eaters were now required to have their children trained for their cause when they showed their first signs of magical energy.

In the hallway, Wormtail walked down the hallway, irritated at how the Dark Lord regarded him as just an extra wand.

"He's foolish to not utilize your full potential," muttered a voice in Wormtail's ear, that he had been hearing ever since he had been broken out of Azkaban. "Hang in there, Peter, you will get your chance to prove yourself, once the opportunity has presented it."

"I know," said Wormtail to himself. He was great, he would prove himself to be the greatest who ever lived and one day, Voldemort would be the one cowering below his feet, bowing down to the Dark Lord Wormtail. He gave a small shudder, as he passed a group of Dementors who were patrolling the hallway, but thankfully they did not focus their full power on him.

The Dementors stood, as Wormtail had left. They had sensed the arrival of the inferior cousins to their supreme forms, the Tengus. A moderate amount of power, no doubt, but not the ultimate power that they had passed themselves off as.

The five heralds watched, eyes widened, as they realized the outer defenses had been approached. The Shredder had done nothing as of yet, he was allowing them to enter, blow through his minions one by one. At that moment, the doors to their temple opened up, as Harry walked in, followed by Leo, Raph, Mikey, Don, and Karai, causing the heralds to raise their staffs in the air, as the sounds of battle echoed from the hallway across them.

"The path to the Shredder is through us," growled the fire mystic, as the shot mystic spells from their staffs. The staffs were deflected by the attacks from the Turtles, as Harry moved in, before he pulled the staff away from the earth mystic. The mystic rumbled, shooting through the ground, causing an earthquake to echo come through the building, but Harry jabbed the staff towards him. The earth mystic shrieked in agony, as he was ripped into pieces, causing several pieces of dirt to drop to the ground.

The metal mystic clanged his arms against Leo's arms. Another clang echoed, but Raph had blasted him from behind with a huge sonic blast. The mystic was against the wall, as Mikey and Raph teamed up, blasting the mystic with a full force attack. The mystic dropped to the ground, a puddle of melted metal, as Don dove around the attacks of the fire mystic. The mystic clapped his hands together, blasting fireballs at Don, but Don spun around in a cyclone blowing the fire back towards him. Don gained momentum and the fire was completely blown out, leaving the fire mystic as nothing but a pile of smoldering embers. Unfortunately, Don's triumphant was short lived, as the water mystic splashed right towards him, knocking him backwards.

"Hang on, Don!" called Leo as he swung his weapon down, impacting the end of the current of water. The water mystic shrieked, as he evaporated by Leo's attack. The wind mystic stood alone as he swung his arms, knocking them off balance, causing the Turtles and Harry to drop to the ground. They were pushed down, as the wind mystic desperately attempted to keep them back, but Harry picked up all four of the staffs of the defeated mystic, before he aimed them right at the wind mystic. A heavy blast of earth, metal, water, and fire impacted the wind mystic, causing him to spin in reverse. The wind mystic looked ill before Karai sprung up into the air. The sword sliced right into the top of the head. She stepped back, as the mystic ripped into pieces, completely destroyed.

"The attacks are only increasing!" called Ginny from the outside, as Harry moved over.

"Tell everyone to hang in there," said Harry firmly and Ginny nodded, as she sent a spell, that blew a hole into the chest at one of the undead warriors, before he turned to outside, with Bishop, Chaplin, Master Splinter, and the Ancient One moving past, Bishop throwing another grenade into the hallway, which blew several of the demons through the wall. "Now we need to get inside and finish this before…"

On their own accord, the door to the Shredder's throne room blown open, as the group stepped forward, with the Shredder looking down at them, with a calm, casual, rather indifferent look on his face.

"There is no need to force your way in, I will be pleased to deal with you personally," said the Shredder calmly, as he looked at the weapons carried by the Turtles, along with the amulets around the necks of all four of the Turtles. "I see before me children wearing the marks of the dragon, you would not happen to be the students of the Ninja Tribunal?"

The Turtles and Harry just stood there, as from the window behind them, several hundred of the Shredder's winged demon minions burst through the window. They circled around them, before they were behind the Shredder, awaiting instructions.

"Children should not be allowed to play with such dangerous toys," scoffed the Shredder in a faux parental tone of voice. "I have allowed you live for too long, but now, you leave me no choice to eliminate you thanks to your meddling."

The Shredder motioned for the winged demons to attack, diving towards the Turtles and Harry. Quickly, they scattered, splitting their attack in several directions. Bishop assisted, shooting several of the demons out of the air with the energy weapons. Harry splashed water up into the air, prompting the demons to dive bomb them. Quickly, shuriken were flung into the air, incapacitating the demons. Several more attacks boomed throughout the fortress, as the Shredder continued to direct traffic, maneuvering the attacks. Karai, the Ancient One, and Master Splinter had moved into a corner, where they had all sat down, cross legged.

"Now is the time, focus on your connection to the Shredder, drain him of his power," encouraged Master Splinter.

"We will help you," said the Ancient One as they sat down, closing their eyes shut, in meditation and sure enough, magical energy began to flow from the Shredder, right into Karai. The tengu spun around, eyes glowing red, as he felt his power draining slowly.

"What you dare drain my power?" demanded the Shredder as he raised his hand, in an attempt to put a stop to it, but all four Turtles blasted him with mystic attacks from their weapons, knocking the Shredder back. Harry magically ripped the winged minions from the sky and caused several of them to smash into Shredder, causing his legs to buckle. The Shredder angrily blasted his minions off of him and stepped forward, magical energy swirling around him, but suddenly his legs buckled, causing him to crash down to the ground. A bit more of the magical energy flowed from Shredder to Karai, before the draining process abruptly stopped.

"So that's it," scoffed Hun as he moved forward into the room, looking at the downed form of the Shredder, with scorn and absolute indifference, before he kicked it. "So much for your big bad boogeyman, I could have sworn that he was a much bigger deal from the way you freaks were going on about him."

Hun gave the body another kick, and the Shredder's eyes opened up, before smoke billowed upwards from underneath the body.

"HUN, GET OUT OF THERE!" cried Raph in an irritated voice, but the muscle bound goon did to not heed the Raph's warning. As a result, the Shredder rose to his feet, before he spun Hun around before he hoisted up the Purple Dragon by the throat and flung him with great strength.

"AH CRUD!" yelled Hun as he crashed right through the wall, as the Shredder turned towards the group, before he gave a loud cold round of laughter, that echoed throughout the room, before his eyes narrowed, as members of Harry's Resistance group, along with the Purple Dragons and the Earth Protection Force commandos were wrapping up the last of the Shredder's minions outside in the corridors.

"And here I thought conquering this world would be boring, but no, it appears that this will give me enough thrills to last centuries. First, I shall finish each and every one of you meddlesome fools off," said the Shredder, as he raised his arms into the air, as dark magical energy swirled around him, as wind began to blow into the room. "We require a larger arena for your utter and total demise."

With that, a teleportation spell shot out, engulfing the Turtles and Harry Potter in magical energy and began pulling them forward. A cyclone swirled throughout the room, as Master Splinter and the Ancient One was partially pulled into it, before all six figures were sucked through, much to the utter horror of several people in the room. Ginny moved forward, desperately hoping to get to Harry, but much to her agitation, he was gone.

"No," breathed Ginny helplessly, as she was torn, she wanted to tell the others, but she wanted to somehow get to Harry, before it was too late.

From the sky in an empty, barren field, the Turtles and Harry dropped to the ground. They pulled themselves up, looking around, as they were still shaken from being teleported from one place to the next.

"Did anyone get the number of that Tengu who ran us over?" asked Don in a slightly slurred voice, before he looked around, at the thunderous steps of an approaching horse and loud, triumphant laughter echoed through the sky.

On horseback, the Shredder charged at them, magical energy swirling around him, a spear weapon in his hand, that was enveloped in pure darkness.


	35. Chapter 35: Enter the Dragons Part Two

**Chapter Thirty Five: Enter the Dragons Part Two: **

The Shredder thunderously laughed, as his demonic steed galloped forward, right towards the Turtles and Harry. Quickly, they all dove off to the side, avoiding being impaled. They saw the malignant energy swirling around the Shredder and the Shredder moved back around, he was circling them, stalking them, tormenting them.

"Okay, now what do we do?" asked Raph as the Shredder came back around, they only had maybe a minute before they would have to face him once again. "I hate to bring this up now, but no matter how much the Tribunal taught us, they never really gave us any hints into how to defeat this guy."

At that point, a bolt of green magical energy burst through the air, right towards the quintet of ninjas. They scattered in every direction, as a large gaping hole was blown through the ground. Harry looked anxious, before he aimed a desperation mystic attack towards the Shredder, metal spikes embedded in a cyclone. Even those two elements combined would only give them relief for a short time. Anxiously, he turned towards his brothers.

"Yeah, it looks hopeless, but keep moving, don't give him an easy target by any means and if any of you get in position where you think he can be finished off, don't hesitate for a second," said Harry quickly, as he watched the Shredder completely brush of his attack, with the thunderous sounds of his horse moving forwards. Quickly, Leo, Mikey, Don, Raph and Harry all bolted off in separate directions, sending mystical attacks behind their backs, in an attempt to slow or injure the Shredder. The Shredder held out his arms, a shield appeared in front of him, that absorbed the attacks, before he moved forward, eyes glowing, as he drew around all of the magic in the air that he could.

"Stand your ground you pathetic warriors, you can't hide from me forever!" thundered the Shredder, but from above, Harry somersaulted right over the Shredder, dodging a blast of mystical energy before threw a shuriken at the Shredder. The Shredder deflected it right back, but Harry had ducked. The ground where it landed turned to stone and the Shredder raised his hand, before he attempted to finish Harry, who kept moving, letting the Shredder burn through his power. "Foolish child, mere trinkets cannot stop me. Fight your ground, face your destiny."

At this point, Leo and Don had blasted Shredder from attacks from either side. The wind had caused the Shredder to lose his balance off his horse, while the fire blast from Leo had spooked the horse into moving around. Leaping up, Harry shot thick metal cables at the Shredder, in an attempt to properly secure him. They wrapped around the Shredder, who turned his attention to Harry and struggled, as Raph aimed a strong attack from above. The Shredder was hoisted up to the ground and smashed into the ground, but only for the briefest of seconds, as the metal cords from around the Shredder melted. He rose to his feet, standing in a pile of liquefied metal, before he sent black fire towards his opponents. Harry concentrated, before a large current of water blasted right towards the Shredder, slightly dousing his attacks. The battle raged on, with the Shredder not stopping for one second. His fire attacks resumed, as Leo, Raph, Don, Mikey, and Harry did their best to stay a step ahead of their opponent.

Back in the Shredder's fortress, Ginny avoided an attack from the flying abomination above her, as she sent an attack towards him, that managed to soften him up for an assault nearby by Earth Protection Force commandos. With Harry mysteriously disappearing from the assault from the Shredder, Ginny's mind was not in the battle as much as it could have been. She watched as Hermione was nursing an injured wrist and a couple of dangerous looking undead ninjas moved towards her. Ginny slid forward before she backed them off with fire.

"Are you okay, Hermione?" asked Ginny in a concerned voice.

"I wish I could say I was, but why did I insist on coming?" asked Hermione as Ginny had healed her wrist. "I mean, I'm more of a liability out here than anything, I was always the least adept at practical dueling and now…"

"Hermione, I'd really love to talk about your concerns but right now, don't you think it would be better to try and stay alive?" asked Ginny, as she shot fiery ropes out of her wand, that wrapped around Inferi that had moved back towards them. The dark creatures struggled against the attacks, as she watched Neville, Luna, and Hailey from below, do their best to keep the demon situation down on that level contained. Another undead warrior rushed Ginny and Hermione, but that point, one of Bishop's commandos blasted it in the back, ripping its rotting skin off the bone, before Ginny and Hermione moved down to assist Sirius, Remus, and Lily, who were badly at a disadvantage.

"Keep up, don't stop fighting!" yelled Bishop to his men, as they continued to hammer their undead attackers with every bit of fire power they could use. "Remember, we don't have to play nice, these are undead ghouls we are talking about, so don't hold back."

Bishop felt a clammy hand on his shoulder and quickly reached around, grabbing him around the arm. The zombie warrior was thrown to the ground and Bishop removed a disc shape object, pressing a button, before he expertly impaled it right into the chest of his attacker. The supernatural ninja gave a shriek that chilled some of the people nearby to the bone, as its legs began to buckle, before it dropped down to the ground, complete injured from the attack.

Nobody sprung over, kicking one of the undead warriors away. The warrior charged Nobody with a sword, but Nobody dodged the attack, before he picked up the gun. He pulled the trigger, firing it, as Stockman moved over, robotic shell and all, before he blasted one of the attackers out of the way. Another blast from Stockman impacted a demon, dropping him to the ground, as an Inferius dropped to the ground, the skin and bones rotting completely to dust, as Sirius backed off from it, before he shot fire, backing off another group nearby.

Leatherhead growled, catching one of the diving demons in his hand. The croc used its brute strength and managed to severely injure the demon, but it managed to evade Leatherhead before it could be finished off. Taking advantage of the demon's state, Hailey flicked her wrist and caught the demon on fire. It fell down to the ground, forcing a group of Inferi who had Neville, Luna, and Ron all backed up. This allowed them to use to banish their opponents into the path of the commandos. With that, Bishop's men were easily able to deal a crushing blow to the undead abominations.

Inside the palace, a battered Hun pulled himself up, shaking off the cobwebs from the Shredder throwing him through the wall. The man mountain leader of the Purple Dragons just snorted, as he saw the battle rage on throughout the window.

"If those geeks want to get themselves killed by a bunch of demons and other undead nasties, that's fine, but I'm out of here," said Hun but he stopped cold, as he saw miles and miles of gold and other treasure on the floor, of the room that he had been thrown into it. Hun examined the gold, it looked like even a few small pieces would be worth a fortune and he thought he should take more than a few. "Well as long as I'm here, I might as well get rewarded for risking my life."

Hun picked up two large hands full of gold coins and began stuffing them into his pockets, greed in his eyes. If he was going to die, at least he was going to die a rich man. Hun loaded up on the goods, while others risked their lives around him, even his own fellow Purple Dragons.

Don's eyes screwed shut, as the Shredder continued his assault around them. The Shredder's horse galloped right towards the turtle, but Don sprung up into the air and blasted a heavy gust wind towards his adversary. The wind attack looked to be a success for just a moment, but did not work, as the Shredder blasted the attack right back into Don. Don was blown right off of his feet and on the other end, Raph moved in for the attack. The Shredder blasted Raph. Raph luckily avoided the Shredder's attack by avoiding the contact. Another blast, but the Shredder threw his arm off to the side. A loud wave of energy blasted right towards Raph's attempted attack and blown Raph right down to the ground. The Shredder then hoisted Raph right off the ground and drew his arm back. Raph was sent flying backwards, right into Don. Both Turtles collided with each other from the impact.

"Now where are the other three Acolytes?" mused the Shredder, as he had all day, he wished to end this right now, and from the other side, Mikey swerved around the Shredder at a super speed. Dirt and wind kicked up, shooting right at the Shredder. For a few scant seconds, Mikey thought he had something to keep his demon adversary off balance, but the Shredder flicked his wrist off to the side and the dirt and wind blew right back towards Mikey. Mikey dodged around the Shredder's attack but another attack blasted Mikey. Mikey skidded backwards in super speed at reverse, before he collapsed right towards the ground.

Leo moved forward, waving his sword, shooting bolts of fire right towards the Shredder. Shredder waved his arm, as the fire came right at him. The fire quickly contorted into large tentacles before they moved right back towards Leo, wrapping around his arms. The tentacles pulled Leo to the ground, forcing him down to the ground. Leo reached for his sword, but the Shredder aimed his arm upwards, before Leo smashed right into the ground. Leo rolled over from the impact, eyes glazed over and the Shredder gave a loud thunderous round of laughter, four of the Acolytes had fallen, now only one had remained.

"Come out and show yourself!" demanded the Shredder but he was amused, he doubted that one could succeed where the other four had failed, but Harry slid out from the other side, having studied the Shredder closely. A super intense blaze of fire ripped through the air towards the Shredder, who fully intended to put up shields to force Harry's attack back.

However, the attack had maneuvered around the Shredder's shield, enveloping the demon in a ring of fire. Harry moved forward, no doubt it would take a bit of power to cause the Shredder to burst through and sure enough, he did, on his demonic horse as well. Right on cue, the Shredder's steed galloped towards Harry, two sets of eyes glowing red and large rocks shot out of the ground, diverting the Shredder's attack. The Shredder threw himself gracefully from the horse, before he stood right in front of Harry. Both mystical warriors faced each other down and Harry quickly blasted a heavy curtain of water right towards the Shredder.

"Fool, water, is that what you hope to beat me with?" demanded the Shredder, who did not bother to block the attack, as it was just water after all, as it dripped from his armor, which was of no concern to the tengu.

With a smirk, Harry waved his wand and the water froze to solid ice. The Shredder remained immobile, as Harry walked over, to tend to his brothers, but he still had an eye over towards the Shredder, who just burst from the ice, looking very angered. Black magic swirled from around the Shredder's glowing red eyes, as he raised his hands up, before he shot two balls of orange light. Harry was knocked to his back and much to his despair, he could not move. All of the feeling was out of his arms and legs. The Shredder moved around, before he roughly pulled the battered forms of all five Acolytes to his feet, a nasty expression appearing right in his eyes and the air becoming rather chillier from around them.

"You became dangerously close to becoming worthy opponents, but now, the time has come for your end," said the Shredder wickedly, and they were kept in stasis fields, there was no chance to block what had occurred next. The Shredder raised his arms into the air and several blasts of green magical energy erupted from them. The five warriors dropped right to the ground, completely motionless. The Shredder looked at their defeated bodies triumphantly, he had eliminated the last remains of the Ninja Tribunal.

Master Splinter walked forward, leaning on his walking stick as he moved very gingerly. He had been separated from his sons when the Tengu Shredder had teleported them off. Splinter, Karai, and the Ancient One had been caught partially in the spell, while the others had been caught fully. Troubling thoughts echoed through Splinter's mind, given the contents of recent visions he had, that suggested that there was a high chance that something very bad would be happening to all five of his sons, when they were forced to fight the Shredder. Splinter mentally cursed the very existence of the Ninja Tribunal, before he stepped forward, into a barren looking field. The rat moved forward, but stopped cold, when he had made an extremely grisly discovering.

"NO!" shouted Master Splinter as he saw the motionless forms of all five of them not moving, not breathing. Harry, Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael, and Donatello all laid, completely motionless, as Splinter rushed over towards them, ignoring the stabbing pains of old age through his knees that mandated the use of the walking stick, as he knelt down before them, his grief fueling him. "No, please be alright, please be alive, not my sons, this nightmare, it isn't coming true, no, it was only a vision, I cannot be seeing this…"

Splinter closed his eyes, breathing deeply, hoping that this was another vision, that he would be waking up in the lair, they had still yet to go out and face the Shredder, but a logical part of Splinter's mind kicked in, telling the aged rodent that this was not the case. As he slowly opened his eyes, he still saw them, on the ground, unmoving, not a breath coming from them.

"THIS CANNOT BE HAPPENING!" shouted Splinter angrily, breathing heavily. The mutated rat clutched his hand to his chest, his heart beating at a fast rate because of the stress, but at that moment, the Ancient One walked forward, completely befuddled, before a blast of green light impacted the Ancient One right in the back, causing him to fall to the ground. Splinter rushed over to attend to his Master Yoshi's sensei, but found the Ancient One equally unresponsive. "No, Ancient One, not you too!"

The loud taunting laughter of the Shredder rang through Master Splinter's ears, causing Splinter to turn his attention slowly towards the Tengu. The Shredder was rather amused by Splinter's grief, as he stared at the rat for about a minute, as if he was some kind of captivating television show. Splinter stood firmly, staring down the Shredder, an intense look blazing towards the rats eyes.

"I will make you pay for slaughtering my family!" shouted Splinter intensely, stepping forward, knowing full well that the Shredder would destroy him, but he would fight to his very last breath and would do so with honor.

"Is that so, rodent?" asked the Shredder in an amused tone of voice, as he mounted his horse, holding his spear, as he looked towards Splinter, who continued to stand his ground. "I have a world to conquer, but if you wish to continue to stand in my way, then it will be you that will be the one who pays, rodent!"

Splinter remained still, as the Shredder charged him on horseback, a deadly and rather sharp looking spear extended forward him. Once the Shredder reached him, Splinter had intended to make one final desperation attack, to hopefully wound the Shredder enough to allow others to put down the Shredder. At the moment, it was a long shot, but right now, that was the only chance that Splinter had for success, as time seemed to slow down, as the Shredder prepared to deliver the killing blow to Splinter.

Back in the Shredder's fortress, Agent Bishop continued to direct his men against the never ending horde of demons diving down from the sky, their claws moving forward. Two of his men wheeled out a large energy cannon, before a third pulled the trigger. The attack sent waves of spiral shapes through the air, that seemed to stun the demons. It allowed others to move in for the kill, blasting them right to bits, causing their charred forms to fall out of the sky.

"Aim the cannon in that direction!" called Stockman from off in the distance, and the commandos spun the weapon right around in the opposite direct, a pull of the trigger allow them to propel the energy rings out. Once a group of about seven or eight winged demons had been stunned, several attacks from Chaplin's mystically altered weaponry cut through the demons.

The ash fell to the ground, as Stockman continued to direct traffic, with Chaplin over on the other end, but a large group advanced upon Chaplin, two gripping him from the arms and his energy weapon slid out of his arms. Chaplin attempted to call out for help, but unfortunately, Chaplin saw that the others had their own problems, so he was struggling against the grip of his demonic opponents. A large hulking figure raised a blood stained sword up, to slash Chaplin's throat.

A blast sliced right through Chaplin's attacker, knocking him right to the ground. At that point, Karai rushed over, causing the two Inferi to recognize her as a threat. Thus they dropped Chaplin and advanced on Karai. She dodged a sluggish assault from the undead warriors, as it was becoming clearer now more than ever that the tengu was favoring sheer numbers as opposed to skills. Karai sliced the warrior in half with her sword and then swung her arm around, impaling the attacker, the sword in its chest. With a rip, she tore it in half.

"How did you manage to escape from the Shredder?" asked Chaplin curiously.

"His teleportation only blasted me a few miles from here, simple enough to find my way back here and I was lucky enough to not run into any of his demons," remarked Karai and Chaplin nodded. "Now, pick up your weapon and get back on the attack, there are still more coming."

"No, stay here, Chaplin, along with Stockman," ordered Bishop as he moved forward, with Stockman. "Karai, you must attempt to reestablish your link with the Shredder, it may slow the attack and the numbers. Otherwise, we cannot keep up the fight for much longer."

"I will do so," stated Karai calmly, as she sat cross legged, as Stockman and Chaplin stood on either side, before Chaplin looked at his idol with an eager expression.

"Just think Doctor Stockman, we're working together as a team again!" cheered Chaplin as the holographic image of Stockman's head rolled its eyes. "Isn't this so exciting?"

"I'm thrilled behind belief," dead panned Stockman as he turned, as Chaplin held his weapon ready, as Karai had tried to reestablish the connection with the Shredder. "This day couldn't get any worse now, could it?"

On the ground, Hailey staggered around, she was tired, and the attack kept coming. The fact that her brothers had disappeared at the hands of that blasted Tengu did not improve the Potter girl's mood. Several more winged demons dove at her and she had desperately shot metal spikes at them but one of them had grabbed her wand, taking it up into the sky with them.

"Damn it!" cursed Hailey, her wandless magic was not bad, but still, not enough to combat demons, as they dove right at her, in an attempt to dive at her, to impale their sharp claws into her face. Hailey looked around, for one of Chaplin's energy weapons that had dropped, but she was knocked on her back as one of the demons dove at her. They circled around her head, ready to swoop in for the kill.

"STAY AWAY FROM HER!" shouted Neville as he rushed forward, sending a couple of blasts of fire towards the demons. This only served to have the flying abominations drop Hailey's wand and go right after Neville. Hailey quickly moved over, before she grabbed her wand. To his credit, Neville stood his ground, despite being heavily overmatched, losing his balance and falling back slightly, but still fighting. Hailey rushed over, to banish the demons far back enough for some of Bishop's men to blast them right out of the sky with their energy weapon.

"Are you okay Neville?" asked Hailey quietly, as she extended her hand and help Neville up to his feet.

"Fine, Hailey," said Neville with a smile as he looked into her vivid green eyes, but a loud bang echoed, caused Neville to come back to his senses. "It's not over yet, they need our help."

"Right," stated Hailey, as she joined over, not knowing how much of a difference she or Neville for that matter could make, with Harry, Mikey, Raph, Don, and Leo out of the picture, which lead to them going in circles, fighting a never ending army of the Shredder's demons.

Master Splinter stood, as the Shredder nearly reached him, spear extended outwards, but little did the rat know the amulets around the necks of his sons began to glow. A high amount of magical energy swirled around their downed bodies, before five bolts of magical energy swirled around, and shot out, interconnecting in front of Master Splinter. Splinter stepped back in slight shock, when he realized the spectral form of his Master Yoshi

"Master Yoshi," breathed Splinter as he saw Yoshi stand in front of him. Splinter's eyes widened, the rest of his nightmarish vision was going to play out right before his very eyes. After his sons had been destroyed, Yoshi was impaled by the Shredder, his master slaughtered for a second time right before his very eyes. Splinter could not allow that to transpire. "Master Yoshi, you must listen to me, move, please move."

Yoshi remained immobile, the desperation in Splinter's voice not getting through to him, as Splinter closed his eyes. He could not bear to watch this happen. Shredder raised his spear and Yoshi caught it in his hand, before he forced the Shredder backwards. Splinter opened his eyes, to see Yoshi still standing and to hear an anguished yell echoing from the Shredder.

"I do not know what you are, but know this, nothing can stop the Shredder!" thundered the Shredder, but Yoshi's arm reached forward, before he flung the Shredder halfway across the barren field, causing him to crash down hard because of the great force. Shredder pulled himself up and Yoshi rushed forward, before he planted his fist right into the Shredder's chest. The Shredder flew backwards and crashed down to the ground once again, slightly wounded from the attack.

"That is where you are mistaken, Tengu," stated the spectral Yoshi coolly, before he slowly shot five bolts in opposite directions, flowing into the amulets of the five Acolytes. With that, Leo, Don, Raph, Mikey, and Harry got to their feet, a bit weakened, but still alive as Master Splinter rushed over to them, breathing a sigh of relief.

"My sons, I'm relieved to see that you are alright," said Splinter happily, as they nodded, still a little sore from their near death experience.

"Not for long," growled the Shredder, as the Tengu, obviously not in the best of moods from getting knocked around by the spectral Yoshi, as he advanced on the Turtles, Harry, and Master Splinter.

"Time to finish this, right now," said Harry firmly, as the others nodded, before they prepared to strike hard to take down their demonic foe for the very last time, but the Shredder stopped, as he felt draining, as his magic was being pulled from him.

"NOW, WHILE HE'S WEAKENED!" shouted Leo.

"Don't forget, remove the helmet and gauntlet," added Don quickly, as they nodded, before rushing forward to the attack, ready to finish him off for good, as several raw blasts of energy impacted the Shredder.

At the decimated fortress of the Shredder, Karai sat, her eyes glowing, as she had reestablished her link with the Shredder. She stood, she could feel the power from him coming to her.

"Now, I have him and I won't allow my concentration to break this time, he will pay," stated Karai coldly, as Stockman and Chaplin stood on either side of her, as the battles raged on from below, the attacks of the Shredder getting more sluggish as Karai managed to drain even more power from the Tengu. At that point, Stockman looked up, shrieking, as a group of winged demons had buried their claws into the metal of his suit, before they pulled him up into the air.

"I guess this day could get worse," said Stockman in a melancholy tone, as the demons hoisted him higher into the air.

"Doctor Stockman, hang on!" called Chaplin, as he aimed his weapon towards the winged demons. With a heavy blast, Chaplin impacted the demons, causing them to drop Stockman. Stockman yelled, as he fell right down to the ground, slightly cracked from the impact of the demon dropping him. Stockman screamed, as Chaplin blasted the weapon several more times, incinerating several more demons from the impact, blowing them out of the air.

At that point, large, razor sharp tentacles burst out of the ground. Chaplin screamed, as the tentacles cut right into his leg. He held his weapon, managing to blast himself loose, burning the tentacles in the process, but one of the winged demons took advantage of the scientist's predicament. Quickly, the demon dove down, claws extended, before Chaplin aimed the weapon, but it was empty. The demon drove its claws right into the chest of Chaplin. The scientist screamed in horror, as it dove up, to attack another, but the tentacles burst out of the ground, wrapping around the legs, the arms, and neck of Chaplin. The mysterious creature dragged Chaplin down to the ground. The screams of Chaplin faded in an eerie silence, but while few watched, they had to get back to battling the demons. Karai sat still in a trance, as she drained more power from the demonic entity

In the field, Leo swung his weapon. A burst of fire covered the ground, frying the Shredder, as Harry moved around, blasting several sharp metal spikes into the chest of his opponent. The Shredder backed up, shrieking in agony, as Mikey ran around, the super speed blowing the fire towards the Shredder. The spikes began to melt into the chest of Shredder from the intense heat as Don leapt high into the air, before he spun his weapon down, blasting the Shredder through the ground, burying him with a high burst of energy. Seconds later, the Shredder blasted out of the ground.

"EAT THIS!" shouted Raph as the Shredder was blown backwards, in an attempt to rattle him, as Mikey moved from behind in the other end, before the Shredder was blown right forward. Harry came down in front of the Shredder, spinning his arm, which sent rocks directly up out of the ground. They spun around, before Leo swiped his sword. The rocks heated up and were propelled directly towards the Shredder, smashing at his armor, as Don came from behind, blowing the Shredder off of his feet. A large cyclone of water erupted from around Harry, the force causing the Shredder to skid backwards.

"Now my sons, hit him with everything you can," encouraged Master Splinter and Leo, Don, Mikey, Raph, and Harry all crowded around, before five high impact blasts drilled the Shredder. A loud thunderous bang filled the air, as the Shredder was hoisted up and flung right down ground. Shockwaves burst through the field around them, but they stood, as dust was kicked up in the air. When the dust settled, the five brothers walked forward, but still there was uneasiness in the air.

"So is it over?" asked Mikey quietly, breaking the silence, but at the point, the Shredder rose to his feet, before he reached forward, as magic from off in the distance was sucked forward towards him.

"Not yet, not by a long shot," said Harry darkly, as the Shredder summoned all of his power back to himself.

At the Shredder's fortress, the combat continued but the Inferi suddenly collapsed to the ground, before they burst into dust, worms crawling out of them. Everyone looked around in surprise, as the winged demons from the sky began to lose their semblance of form, vanishing into the distance.

"What is happening?" demanded Bishop, as one moment, his men were fighting demons and the next minute, said demons had vanished as quickly as they had appeared.

"He's summoning all of his power in desperation," said Lily, as she breathed a sigh of relief, but only slightly, as she had no idea where Harry was and that worried her.

"She is correct, I cannot maintain it any longer, I…." said Karai, before she suddenly collapsed right to the ground, limp and motionless, the eyes rolled in the back of her head, one final shallow breath escaping her, before nothing else.

Inside the fortress, Hun continued to greedily load up treasure, before it had vanished right before his very eyes, along with what had had already pocketed it.

"AH CRUD!" cried Hun in an anguished voice, his riches having slipped away from him. Angrily, the Purple Dragon smashed his hands into the ground, before he stormed off.

Leo, Don, Mikey, Raph, and Harry looked up, to see the Shredder rise up into the air, transforming into his dragon form. Demonic red eyes glowing from the spiked skin that was dark as the blackest night, as the transformed Shredder flew around, breathing green fire towards the ground, forcing them to scatter in all directions.

"Everyone, we need to end this right now, focus, attempt to draw enough power," said Harry quickly, as the Shredder circled them.

"Right, we need to draw from every bit of strength from within and remember, separate him from the helmet and gauntlet, so the rest will fall," added Leo, as the five brothers closed their eyes, magical energy swirling from around them. The Shredder dove at them, but a dome appeared in front of them, protecting them. Undaunted, the Shredder pushed through, but a burst of magic erupted, backing him off. Angrily glaring, breathing fire, the Shredder saw five dragons rise up from where his five adversaries had once stood. They rose up into the sky, before all five moved towards the Shredder.

The demonic dragon drew him his breath, before he spit fire at them. The five dragons in the air fought back, pushing the flames back at the Shredder. The transformed demon spun out of the air, where Raph moved forward, before he swung his tail. The Shredder expertly dodged the attack and blasted his opponent back. Quickly, Mikey and Don maneuvered around the Shredder, distracting him, which allowed Leo to aim his attack at the Shredder, blowing him backwards. Harry dove down towards a nearby stream, contorting the magic around him slightly. A sponge effect appeared around Harry, before the dragon turned around, a tidal wave in mid air connecting with the Shredder. The Shredder remained in the air, but not for long as Raph dove down, digging his claws into the Shredder. The Shredder was pushed towards the ground, where he smashed hard into the pavement of the parking lot.

In an instant, the Shredder began to shrink slightly, unable to sustain his dragon form. Five flying figures from above assisted the Shredder in speeding up this process, blasting him with all they could from high above. The Shredder's skin turned to normal and he sat on the ground, realizing that his helmet had flown from his head in the battle. Looking forward, he saw it on the ground, desperately, he tried to move towards the source of his power. Mikey and Don had seen that attack coming and hoisted the Shredder up off the ground. The Shredder struggled, but they flung him off to the side, as Harry swooped down, before he crushed the helmet into nothing. Leo swooped down and ripped the Shredder's gauntlet off of his arm, before he threw it to the side. Raph caught it in his mouth. With a bite, the dragon bit down on it, leaking magic, before the gauntlet was destroyed beyond all repair. The Shredder looked up, a defeated look on his pale face, as the five warriors lowered to the ground, slowly transforming back into their normal forms.

The five brothers exchanged looks, as the amulets shattered one by one, magic swirling around them, as they slowly formed, once again into the spectral form of Hamato Yoshi. The battered form of the Shredder pulled himself up, to face his adversary, before giving a growl, as he advanced himself forward.

"This isn't over, I will destroy you, I will fight to my very last breath!" growled the Shredder, as the ground weakly shook underneath him.

"This demon, is your very last breath," said Yoshi firmly, as he pulled out a sword before he sliced it right into the top of the Shredder's head. The Shredder shrieked in pain, as the sword ripped through the Shredder, tearing through him, as he burst open, magic shooting into oblivion, before nothing but a few ashes.

They all breathed a sigh of relief, the Tengu Shredder had been destroyed once and for all. Slowly, the spectral form of Master Yoshi turned towards them, before offering a bow towards Master Splinter. Splinter returned the bow, as Yoshi faded into the air around them.

"Well done, Acolytes," said the voice of Con and the Turtles and Harry spun around, to see the shadowy forms of the four members of the Ninja Tribunal. "If you are viewing this message, it means you have done it, the Shredder has been defeated. Hard work and dedication has paid off for both sides."

"Yes and if you have received this message, we have perished at the hands of the Tengu, but weep not for us, as our sacrifice was necessary to bring forth his defeat," said Shakara as the image looked forward.

"Just like the regrettable demise of Hamato Yoshi at the hands of the Utrom fugitive known as Ch'rell," added Juto. "Still, fate has led this very moment, it would have been very foolish to tamper with fate any more than it had been previously."

"Fortunately, the tampering worked out with the best and will continue to work out for the best, even if events in time are different and many will pay," remarked Con cryptically as the weapons granted by the Tribunal vanished from sight. "And to Harry Potter, it is not over for you, you will face, your greatest test soon enough but should you apply the principles of all five elements, should you be the one with the Heart of the Warrior as has been foretold, you will overcome this hurdle but only fate can tell at what price."

With those cryptic words, the four members of the Tribunal disappeared, from the scene, leaving the Turtles and Harry to turn to each other, before they walked back off into the distance, as the Ancient One began to stir, pulling himself to the feet, wincing as he looked around, seeing the Turtles, Harry, and Master Splinter.

"Ah there you are, I've got a horrible headache from when that Tengu blasted me," complained the Ancient One as he walked gingerly, joining the others, as they moved towards the fortress of the Shredder, as the members of Harry's Resistance Group were tending to their wounds, as Harry saw Purple Dragons sneaking off in the distance. He would allow them to leave, they did help against the Shredder, but the next time they met was another day.

Off in the distance, two commandos were dragging the battered robotic shell of Doctor Stockman off into a waiting van, with Bishop following them at a close distance.

"Come along Doctor Stockman, that brain of yours is still in one piece," said Bishop crisply.

"It seems like the pain will never end," said Stockman sadly, as he was flung into the back of the van which seconds later drove off into the night.

"Everyone okay!" called Harry as he moved forward where he saw his mother, Ginny, Hailey, Neville, and Sirius. In the distance, he saw other members of his resistance group helping dig through the rubble for causalities. A quick look saw that everyone was present and accounted for, but still Harry did not want to overlook someone.

"All of us are okay, but Karai….she didn't make it," said Ginny trailing off, and sure enough, the downed form of Karai was below their feet. "She absorbed too much of the Shredder's magic, it caused her body to shut down."

"I tried to revive her but it was too late," remarked Lily somberly. "I think she knew of the risks, but she took them anyway."

"Yes, her sacrifice helped us defeat the Shredder," said Harry quietly, as the others nodded. "Despite her crimes in the past, in the end, she put all of her hatred of us out of the way and without her, he wouldn't have been weakened enough for us to separate him from the other two artifacts."

"Yes, Karai played a role in defeating the Shredder, even if she will not be in the physical world to enjoy it," said Splinter. "Let us hope that she finds peace with herself in the next world and learns that it was necessary for her father to be put down before he harmed an entire alien civilization."

"Let us hope," agreed Harry, as he held onto Ginny's arm to hold himself up. He was exhausted from his battle with the Shredder.

"That Chaplin bloke also was dragged underground, Remus has taken a group to search for him, but I don't really fancy his chances for surviving," added Sirius. "Still it could have come out a lot worse…"

"Yes it could have," yawned Harry, who could barely stand or keep his eyes open. Using those kind of high level mystical attacks took a lot out of him.

"I think Harry and I will be heading home, the rest of you can handle with searching for any survivors," said Ginny and Harry nodded, mentally thanking Ginny for voicing that concern instead of him.

"Trust me, we can handle it, Ginny," said Lily with a smile, and Master Splinter also walked forward.

"I suspect we will be heading home as well, fighting him was a very taxing affair," remarked Master Splinter, as the Turtles and Splinter walked towards the lair, while Ginny assisted Harry in Apparating back. Harry intended on sleeping for a good long while, but after he woke up, he needed to turn his attention to a certain Dark Lord, something that he felt was long over due.


	36. Chapter 36: Timing

**Chapter Thirty Six: Timing**

There were many countries who had their share of dark magic activities. However, Albania might have been far and beyond every other country in the world. Albania swarmed with a great deal of dark magical activity. It was a central meeting place for many dark witches and wizards in Europe, to trade questionable goods and services. The magical government is inefficient, they could not prosecute shoplifters properly, much less anyone who could do real damage. That was not to say that the country was not heavily monitored. People entering and exiting the country were heavily monitored by mysterious robed figures that were heavily rumored to be agents of the Dark Lord. No one questioned the authority of these robed figures, on the off chance those rumors were true, as the citizens could ill afford the wrath of Lord Voldemort, causing the deadly wizard to harm their families.

Little did they know that a figure cloaked in black was right outside the country, ready for a daring mission to retrieve something that would prove to be essential to maintaining Voldemort's current immortality and his power. The figure carefully looked from side to side, taking a deep breath, ensuring that there was no one watching the border of the country closely. Once he had seen that only a pair of Albania Aurors were clumsily patrolling, the figure quickly slipped into the shadows. Moving forward, he passed the Aurors, without them getting the slightest hint that their borders were being breached. Getting in was of course the easy part, it was getting out with the intended object was going to be the tricky part.

Ginny sat, legs crossed, as she calmly had a mirror by her side, waiting, watching. Everyone had gone over this plan of Harry's several times in the past three days. The fact that Harry had time to come up with it was remarkable, but if they could pull it off, it could get Voldemort in position for Harry to deal a serious blow to him. Harry's plan was sound and worked in theory, but in action was a different matter entirely. He had to rely on a few things working correctly in succession. Harry said he was going this over in his mind for quite some time, even before the Outbreak started. Right now, Ginny could only wait, watch. Harry promised that he would contact her the second he managed to implement the first stage of the plan.

A large thick man sat behind the counter of a bar, watching as a few patrons were inside the main bar, but most that had entered had used the back room for shady dealings. Most avoided this area of Albania all together, because of the strong concentration of dark magic in the air, that polluted the entire landscape around them. The owner of the bar much preferred few people nosed around this area. The owner's name was K'rose and he was one of the Dark Lord's main eyes and ears inside of Albania. He had been in the service of the Dark Lord since before his sabbatical at the hands of Harry Potter. The Dark Lord valued K'rose well, because of his many connections within the country and once a month, the Dark Lord stopped by to his bar, to gain the latest news.

The Dark Lord entrusted K'rose to keep constant watch over a well that was outside of his bar. While K'rose had no place to ask about the contents of the well, the Dark Lord did hint that the contents were extremely important to him. The Albania Death Eater would not allow anyone break into the well, having put a few inventive charms around them to prevent tampering, along with the essential monitoring charms that would notify him immediately of any attempts to break into the well.

K'rose stood, watching as a man stumbled out of the bar. For lack of anything better to do, K'rose watched him go up the dirt path before he turned the corner, staggering back home, too inebriated to Disapparate properly. K'rose turned his attention back to the well, he would be lying if he denied that the well did not give him an uneasy feeling. Most went out of their way to avoid it and several Muggles who had strayed too far had collapsed, before they died of swift and sudden dehydration.

The doors of his bar burst open as a pair of weary looking figures walked into the bar, before they ran up to K'rose. They rushed up to the Albania Death Eater, before they turned to him.

"Mr. K'rose, someone's inside the country, we just barely detected him, he slipped by fast," said one of the men without preamble as K'rose just stood in front of him, immobile, a stoic glance on his face, as he looked at his two associates. "Our monitoring charms are still intact, but it seems like he's found a flaw in them, only triggering them slightly, as opposed to the full blown warning we got. If we hadn't been watching them, he would have slipped by without us noticing."

"That is impossible, those detection wards were created by the Dark Lord himself, they should have been heard throughout the entire country, the sirens should have echoed in every direction," said K'rose roughly. "Are you certain you were not imagining things?"

"No of course not, Mr. K'rose, a small blip echoed, before nothing, maybe something is wrong with the monitoring spells around the country?" suggested one of the men, which caused K'rose to angrily blast him right into the wall, a couple of the patrons looking up with mild interest, but most preferring to keep to their drinks.

"As I told you, the Dark Lord created the wards, he does not make mistakes," said K'rose roughly, causing the two men to quiver against the wall. "I am confident that the Dark Lord has ironed all out imperfections and I will not call him on a matter that will be a waste of his time. Now, return to your station, monitor the wards on the chance that someone tries to slip into this country undetected."

The two men nodded, before they quickly scrambled away from K'rose. The Albania Death Eater watched the two terrified men scramble away from his sight, before he stepped back behind the bar. The fact that anyone could slip around the wards that he and the Dark Lord worked so hard to perfect was quite ludicrous. Only an extremely powerful wizard would have a chance but the chance was rather miniscule. K'rose just stood, continuing to monitor the activity in the bar, along with awaiting real news of any individuals who would enter Albania.

Ginny sat, still with the mirror in her hand but then it slowly came to life. She put the mirror up and it flashed in multi colored lights in the code that she and Harry had worked out together recently. While it would have been simpler to speak what was going on, Harry could not afford to have anyone overhear. Once Ginny received Harry's message, she moved towards the other room, where Lily was right by the fireplace. They were the only two left at the Potter Residence as the others had departed to the American Wizarding Government Headquarters.

"Harry says he's inside the country, stand by for when he's retrieved the Horcrux," relayed Ginny and Lily nodded, before she kneeled down right into the fire, to relay the message to Alexandra, to tell her to have the Aurors and the others be ready. Ginny returned, to keep a close eye on the mirror, for the moment that Harry would relay any updates to her.

Harry arrived in the village, consulting the map of Albania. It was quite fortunate that the imperfection in the wards were close to where the well containing the Horcrux was. Harry dodged behind a tree, as he looked forward, as a couple of shady looking characters walked down the street, muttering underneath his breath. Right across the street, off to the side of an old and dismal looking pub was the well. Harry could feel a slight burning sensation on his scar, which indicated to him now more than ever that his studies in pinpointing the location was right. A part of Voldemort was in the well and Harry moved closely, before he moved towards the well. He could see the dark magic radiating off of the area inside the well and that was not the only magic that was swirling around the well. Quickly, Harry checked and sure enough, a dehydration curse had been put around the area of the well, modified to affect Muggles. Another cruel trick from Voldemort to wipe out any Muggles as possible, but that would not happen for much longer as Harry removed the curse but as he did, a loud sound that was as shrill as a siren echoed in Harry's ears, which backed him off. He mentally cursed himself, it appeared that Voldemort had the well rigged to go off if someone had tried to tamper with it.

From inside the pub, K'rose looked up, to the flashing lights outside and then the siren filled his ears. Quickly, he moved towards the door, someone was trying to remove the protections around the well, which meant someone was trying to go inside the well and get the artifact that Voldemort kept inside. The door swung open and K'rose saw a cloaked individual, face obscured. The figure quickly spun around and sent a stunning spell right at K'rose, who put up a shield, block the attack swiftly. K'rose moved around and attempted to use a bone breaking hex on his attacker's arm, but the attacker deflected it back at K'rose, who just barely avoided the counterattack. Had that connected, it would have shattered every bone in his hand.

"INCENDIO!" shouted K'rose and a small burst of fire shot right at him, but was put out with an even larger splash of water. "Step away from the well, do it now…"

A large gust of wind kicked up, sending several rocks right at K'rose. K'rose shielded himself, but still was cut by the rocks as they impacted him. The figure moved around and shot metal cords right at K'rose. K'rose just barely tore them apart with a slicing spell just before to wrap around him, but the attacker had blasted him in both legs. The snap of bones echoed throughout the ears of K'rose as he dropped down to the ground, severely injured from the attack.

A trio of Albanian Death Eaters ran down the street, their wands aimed right at the mysterious intruder, who did not seem all that concerned about them. Quickly several metal spikes erupted out of the ground, ripping through the legs and the chest of one of the dangerous dark wizards, taking him out of action.

"AVADA KEDAVRA!" yelled one of the Death Eaters, but that spell was handily avoided by their mysterious intruder. A large cyclone of wind hoisted the Death Eater into the air. He spun around, becoming dizzy, before he was flung forward right through a glass window. Glass shattered as the Death Eater rolled over, blood dripping down his face.

The third Death Eater aimed his wand, an organ explosion curse aimed right at the heart. His opponent saw this coming, blocking the curse, before a large blast of fire blew forward. The Death Eater screamed, as his flesh was burned, before he dropped down to the ground. The intruder turned his attempt back towards the well but K'rose aimed his wand, after crudely repairing his broken legs. A wooden spike blasted right out of his wand, aimed right towards the heart of the intruder. The intruder countered with a spell, reducing the spike to sawdust before it reached its destination. A flick of the wrist had caused K'rose to be knocked right on his back and seconds later, ropes wrapped around him, his wand skidding away from him, as their intruder had turned his attention back to the well.

Harry took a deep breath, before he turned his attention back to the well. He looked at the well, the dark magic was tense, he could feel it, but somehow, he managed to press onward, before he carefully looked down the well. At the very bottom of the well, Harry saw a small golden cup with a badger etched on it. The Hufflepuff Cup laid at the bottom of the well. Harry prepared to levitate it up, but was discouraged immediately as the cup did not budge. Then again, Harry should have suspected that Voldemort would not have allowed one seventh of his precious soul be retrieved out of a well, with a simply levitation spell. Harry aimed towards the well, before he magically began to take it a part one piece at a time. He kept a heavy eye on K'rose, from what he heard, he knew the Albanian Death Eater was a slippery one, but still, dismantling the well so he could properly retrieve the Horcrux from the bottom of well.

K'rose attempted to yank himself loose, but his wandless magic was only slightly average, nothing that he could use to slice through these ropes. He attempted to squirm, but he could not quite reach his wand. He watched in desperation as that intruder continued to dig his way through the well, to go for the artifact inside.

"The Dark Lord will make you pay for your meddling!" yelled K'rose in an attempt to unnerve the intruder slightly, but this did not work as well, as he continued to take apart the well.

Harry levitated some more stone up, before the well had been completely taken apart. Slowly, Harry climbed down into the well, landing in the shallow water. The cup was lying among a pile of rocks and Harry stepped forward, but he felt a stabbing pain right in the area of his scar. Harry braced himself, no doubt when he was close, the Horcrux would attempt to tempt him to do something, much like the ring did at the Gaunt Shack.

"Drink from me," hissed a voice and Harry just gave a slight shake of his head, he hated from being right. "Come and drink from me, can't you feel your mouth drying?"

Harry did in fact feel his mouth drying, but he suspected it was a curse on the Hufflepuff Cup that Voldemort placed as a safeguard for his Horcrux. He moved over, putting a stasis charm around the Cup. He removed a duffel bag from underneath his robes and carefully ensured the cup was secured. The cup gave a slight hissing sound as Harry picked it up by the handle. Harry walked over, sliding the cup into the bag, before he zipped it shut and he pulled himself up, to face a group of surly looking wizards in ragged uniforms.

"Albanian Ministry of Magic!" boomed one of the wizards. "Hands and wand where we can see them and there will be no need for any violence."

Harry gave a slight smirk underneath his disguise, everything was gong to plan.

"He was trespassing, attacked me, destroyed my well, arrest him!" yelled K'rose angrily, as he attempted to get loose and the Aurors advanced on Harry, but Harry just quickly spun his wrist around. A large cloud of green smoke burst into the hair, causing the Aurors to cough, as they tried to siphon it away. It was obvious they were not trained that well, the Albanian Ministry notoriously lacked resources, the main reason why the country was such a safe haven for notorious dark wizards of all sorts.

Several spells were easily deflected by Harry, but Harry caused the ground right below the Aurors to rumble. They were blasted up into the air, before they flew backwards, landing on the ground. Several injuries were caused, but nothing fatal, as Harry allowed the smoke around them to clear. The closest Albanian Auror sent a spell hurling towards Harry. Harry blocked it but at the same time, mimed being partially hit. He allowed the covering of his face to slip off, exposing his face. Harry positioned his body where he was able to deflect several more attacks, but also allowing the Albanian Aurors and K'rose to get a good look at his face, along with the very prominent lighting bolt scar. Then without another word, Harry disapparated from sight, causing the detection wards from around the country to go off but it did not really matter right now, the Boy-Who-Lived had found what he came for.

K'rose struggled, as he watched the useless Aurors struggle, before one just barely managed to get an attack in through the defenses of their mysterious intruder. This attack did not take down the thief but rather exposed his face. The Albanian Death Eater's eyes widened and to any outside observer, they would have thought he would have saw a ghost, but that was because he did see a ghost. There was no way he could have been alive, but yet K'rose saw it before his very eyes, the face of Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, the one who had forced the Dark Lord's temporary exile. There was no mistaken the scar on his forehead, but the question was how did Harry Potter live? The Dark Lord insisted that Potter's corpse was rotting at the bottom of the Hogwarts lake and surely a great wizard like the Dark Lord would tell no lies.

"He's escaped!" shouted one of the Aurors desperately and sure enough there was no hint, as they climbed over the dismantled well, before turning to their attention to the secured K'rose, before they began to untie him. "Mr. K'rose are you alright, do you need medical attention?"

"I'm fine!" snapped K'rose in a dangerous tone of voice, taking the Aurors aback. "Now do your jobs and find that thief. He's stolen something that belongs to an associate of mine and he will not be happy once he finds out that is missing."

The Aurors nodded, many of them had correctly interpreted the associate to be Lord Voldemort, but none of them were in the position to do anything. Voldemort was powerful, he would destroy them, so they swarmed off, to do their jobs, as K'rose pulled himself to his feet, staggering towards his pub, very ill tempered as he moved forward. Potter was back from the dead and had stolen the cup at the bottom of the well. He had to inform the Dark Lord right way, or it would be his head on a platter. Quickly, K'rose burst into the door, holding his wand dangerously, as he looked towards the patrons.

"Everyone clear out!" yelled K'rose in a dangerous voice, as the group looked up. "I'm serious, everyone out, now, to the door, I need this place empty, for a very important meeting, up, you lazy drunk bums!"

Several people stumbled to the door, more able to reach the door more than others. K'rose shot sparks into the air, forcing them to move quicker. K'rose moved to the back room, ensuring that no one had remained back there. Once he had completely cleared his bar of all the people inside, K'rose rolled up the sleeve on his robe. A black serpent on his forearm served as the means to contact the Dark Lord, as he pressed two of his fingers urgently against it. A small amount of pain coursed through his body, but K'rose reasoned that it would be nothing compared to the pain once the Dark Lord had found out that his property had been stolen from a supposed dead wizard.

Ginny sat once again, the mirror blinking right beside her. Intently, she read the message, before she sprung up to her feet, before moving right over towards Lily, who looked up at her with a curious expression.

"Harry says he has the Horcrux and has made sure he was seen by Voldemort's agents in Albania," relayed Ginny. "He says that everything's going according to plan, tell everyone to remain patient, as soon Voldemort will know. Also, keep an ear on the British frequency on the Wizarding Wireless."

Lily nodded, before she kneeled down in the fireplace.

"Alexandra, did you hear all that?" asked Lily and Alexandra nodded her head from the other end. "I'll relay any information when Harry gives it to us."

"I know, do you really think he'll play right into our hands?" questioned Alexandra.

"Harry thinks that Voldemort will and that's really good enough for me," replied Lily firmly. "It's just a waiting game right now, when Voldemort has undisputed proof that Harry is still alive, you know what he'll do."

"Yes and we're ready," responded Alexandra, as she watched her friend's head disappear to the fireplace, before she moved forward, to relay the information that Lily had relayed to her to the head of the Auror office.

Lord Voldemort sat inside a darkened room at Hogwarts, rather pleased at his success since taking over. He began molding the students into the perfect army. Granted, some showed more of an aptitude than others and there were stints of rebellion. However, slowly, Voldemort wore down their resistance and the cases of rebellion had become slightly. Once, they had seen what happened to those who had defied the Dark Lord, they were all too willing to comply. A few more months of training and several of the older students would be ready to receive the marks, to be fully included into his Death Eaters.

At that moment, Voldemort felt one of his Death Eaters touching the dark mark. It came from Albania, where the only marked Death Eater there was K'rose. Voldemort sat patiently, it seemed urgent, but had fully intended to monitor the round of training that Bellatrix was undertaking with the advanced students. So he lifted his wand in the air, before he shot a large black serpent like construct out, that slithered through the crack of the doorway down the hall. A moment later, the door opened, revealing Lucius Malfoy, who stepped forward, kneeling down right in front of his master. Voldemort signaled for Lucius to rise and he obeyed, facing the Dark Lord.

"You wished to have an audience with me, my Lord," said Lucius and Voldemort coolly looked at Lucius through the red slits that passed for eyes, before he nodded.

"I have Lucius, you are to report to Albania, it appears that our associate K'rose has a pressing matter that needs attention," remarked Voldemort. "Interview him, before bringing back all the details, a full report Lucius, and I will attend to the problem at my earliest convenience."

"At once, my Lord," said Lucius as he walked off, leaving Voldemort alone with his thoughts, wondering what could have been so pressing that K'rose wanted an audience. Surely no one alive would dare tamper with the well to retrieve the cup, in fact, Voldemort had ensured the two people who had the power to do so were killed on the spot. He rose to his feet, Voldemort walked off to monitor the training session with Bellatrix and his future prospects.

Outside the hallway, Peter Pettigrew, patrolling the hallways on the orders of his master, saw Lucius leave in a hurried matter. Peter had wondered what had happened, but once again, the quiet voice in his head had spoke up.

"Wormtail, we may be able to take this turn of events and twist it to our advantage," muttered the voice in Peter's ear. "You help me, and I give you what you desire beyond all else. I can see it in your mind, you have the potential, but I will give you the means, soon Voldemort will be the one bowing down for you."

Peter nodded, before he walked off, careful not to linger, as the Dark Lord would be suspicious of such behavior. Visions of glory danced in the head of Wormtail, he would just need to be a little more patience and soon, he would be the all powerful one, with the Dark Lord being the lackey.

Lucius Malfoy arrived at Albania, escorted up to K'rose's meeting place by a pair of his uniformed guards. Malfoy stepped forward, as they saw him to the gate. Calmly, he walked forward, with the dignified air and sophistication benefiting someone of his stature. Lucius knocked on the door three times and K'rose opened it halfway, looking rather surprised at his presence.

"Mr. Malfoy, I had called for the Dark Lord," stated K'rose calmly. "I was not expecting for you to show up…"

"The Dark Lord has sent me to gather information on what has transpired and I am to bring it back to him immediately," commented Lucius crisply as the Albanian Death Eater stepped back, allowing Lucius to step inside. Lucius used a scouring charm on one of the chairs, so it was fit for him to sit down. Once it was Lucius sat down, as K'rose did in the other chair. "Relay all the information to me and the Dark Lord will be informed. If your inquiry is important, he will see to it in due time."

"Listen, Mr. Malfoy, an alarm was tripped earlier, someone had snuck inside the country," said K'rose and Malfoy looked disinterested, so K'rose decided to relay the next piece of news. "This person entered the country, took out several of my agents here, and dismantled the well outside this pub, before he retrieved the contents inside, a small golden cup that the Dark Lord wished for me to keep an eye on for him."

"The Dark Lord will not be pleased," said Lucius gravely, as he was one of the few that knew of the Dark Lord's Horcruxes, and thus knew exactly what the cup was. "You must return to Britain with me, so you can explain to the Dark Lord that you allowed his property to be captured."

"I know who took it," said K'rose quickly, who did not look forward to face the Dark Lord's wrath and Lucius's interest suddenly rose, as it could present an opportunity to redirect the Dark Lord's rage towards another.

"Very well, do tell me, K'rose," prompted Lucius as he looked over K'rose calmly.

"Harry Potter," responded K'rose calmly and at that moment, Lucius looked at K'rose, actually extremely amused by this preposterous notion. "It was Potter, I saw him with my own eyes, and I can prove it."

"Potter has been dead for nearly two years," responded Lucius crisply. "It's no doubt some kind of trick, the Dark Lord put him down himself, I saw him, unless you wish to call the Dark Lord a liar."

"I know what I saw, Malfoy," argued K'rose and Lucius looked extremely bored, before he rose up to his feet. "You can choose not to believe me all you want, but it was Harry Potter, he attacked me, he took the cup, he escaped the Dark Lord, no one could be that good at imitating someone."

"Well, it will be down to you to explain the theft at any rate, so perhaps you can convince the Dark Lord that wizard that he killed lives," said Lucius skeptically as they walked outside, but K'rose pointed to the well or what used to be the well, causing Malfoy to step back, seeing the great amount of damage. He had known of the protections the Dark Lord had put on all of his Horcruxes and also the places they were kept. Only a really powerful wizard could rip it apart with magic. "It does look suspect, but we must not jump to conclusions. The Dark Lord will not be pleased no matter if Potter has by some miracle escaped his demise or not."

Lord Voldemort watched as Bellatrix and Dolohov assisted in the training of the advanced Defense Against the Dark Arts students. They were slightly above average and with a couple more months training, they would be ready to be integrated among his Death Eaters. He watched as another Muggle suffered an untimely demise but at that moment, Lucius burst through the door, followed by K'rose. Voldemort's eyes snapped towards the two Death Eaters, with irritation evident in them, before the Dark Lord took a deep breath and addressed them.

"I thought I had made it clear that I was not to be interrupted, Lucius," said Voldemort dangerously. "And K'rose, I was certain that Lucius would be able to handle all of your inquiries without my help. Surely, this could wait for my input."

"It's been stolen, my Lord," said K'rose quickly, in a shaky voice. "The cup…"

Voldemort's eyes widened, before he turned to the trainees and shot black sparks into the air, getting their attention.

"You are to return to your quarters, this lesson has concluded for this day, Bellatrix and Dolohov, you are to stay behind," said Voldemort calmly and the trainees moved off, careful not to gain the wrath of Voldemort. Voldemort swung the doors shut, before he turned to the four Death Eaters in this room. "K'rose how could anyone have stolen the cup?"

"They took out my men and me, ripped the well open and took it," stated K'rose as he stepped back, cowering under the wrath of Voldemort, who rose up to his full height.

"Once I find out who did this, they will pay," said Voldemort icily, as he wondered exactly who could have found out about his precious Horcruxes. Bellatrix and Dolohov even looked fearful. "I will have to settle for you right now, K'rose, all you had to do was make sure no one even got near that well and you failed."

"My lord, I'm sorry, Potter was too much," stated K'rose.

"So, Lily Potter decides to mettle in my plans, does she?" asked Voldemort and K'rose shook his head, which caused Voldemort to contort his snake like face into a frown. "The Potter girl then? I did not think she would be powerful enough, but perhaps my attention had been diverted in other areas that I overlooked her."

"It was him, my Lord," muttered Lucius and Voldemort turned slowly to Lucius. "Harry Potter, he's the one who did this, I didn't believe it at first, but…"

Voldemort responded with a high cold round of laughter, that unnerved the four Death Eaters in the room. He seemed rather amused at the fact.

"Harry Potter is dead, by my own hand, his corpse lays at the body of the lake," said Voldemort, and he turned to the Death Eaters. "He did not escape, not this time, but perhaps his decomposing body will provide enough proof for you K'rose and you to Lucius. Come to the Lake, in fact, I will summon all the Death Eaters on the Grounds, as a demonstration for those who defy me."

Five minutes later, Voldemort stood in front of the lake, several dozen Death Eaters watching intently, as Voldemort parted the lake with his wand. A stone tomb slowly rose out of the water, covered in moss and it levitated in the air, before it dropped down right on the grass by the lake. Voldemort turned to his Death Eaters, all that watched eagerly, for the unveiling of the decomposing corpse of the Boy-Who-Lived. They cast looks towards K'rose and Malfoy for dare doubting their master.

"Now, undisputed proof that Harry Potter lives no longer," hissed Voldemort, as the top of the tomb swung off. Voldemort peered down with a triumphant look that quickly turned to rage when he saw that the tomb was completely empty.


	37. Chapter 37: Mobilization

**Chapter Thirty Seven: Mobilization:**

Voldemort looked at the empty tomb, unmistakable rage etched in his eyes. To say Voldemort was furious would be grossly understating the situation. Enraged beyond believe, Voldemort magically levitated the tomb, before he blasted it back towards his Death Eaters. They had the presence of mind to scatter out of the way, as the tomb smashed to bits. All of them remained silent, the Dark Lord had always kept control of his emotions for the most part. There were isolated incidents where he had punished them for their failure, but right now, the Dark Lord appeared to be losing his mind right before their view eyes. Voldemort turned towards them, the Death Eaters taking several steps backward, as the Dark Lord glared at them.

"You are to all return to the castle, do nothing, I need to verify the location of a couple more items before we act," responded Voldemort crisply, and the Death Eaters nodded, before they moved back to their castle. Voldemort walked down the pathway, in a very bad mood, the fact that Potter had eluded his final fate eating away at him. That tomb was fool proof, there was no way the Boy-Who-Lived could have escaped, yet he did. If it was not for the fact that Potter knew about all of his Horcruxes, Voldemort might have been slightly impressed by his enemy's escape from certain doom. However, being impressed was far from the mind of Voldemort, as he walked towards Hogsmeade. K'rose had lost one of his Horcruxes, two had vanished from his sight. Voldemort highly suspected that it was highly probable that Potter had found a way to get those as well, one was secured in Voldemort's office, and the other two were still out there, at least that's what the Dark Lord had assumed.

At this moment, the Dark Lord would not be tripped up my mere assumptions, he would need to ensure that the other Horcruxes were still safe and perhaps move them to a location closer to him. The Dark Lord wished he had buried the Horcruxes in the center of the Earth, but it was too late now. So he disapparated from Hogsmeade and the Gaunt Shack, as a raven sitting perched on a tree sat, watching Voldemort as he departed. The raven flew off, behind a building where no one watching could see him.

Back in the Potter Residence, Ginny sat on the edge of the couch and once again, the mirror right beside her side began to blink. Looking at in intently, Ginny read the code coming from the mirror, before she turned to relay it to Lily, who remained by the fire.

"Voldemort knows," said Ginny and Lily nodded. "He's pieced together that Harry's after the Horcruxes, and is checking on the status of the others, it won't be long now before Voldemort takes the next step."

"So far so good," muttered Lily before she turned to the fireplace. "Alexandra, Voldemort knows, Harry said he's going to check on the other sevenths. Voldemort will know soon enough."

"We're ready," confirmed Alexandra. "Of course, we can't really do anything, because of the law until…"

"I know," responded Lily. "Harry's adamant that it will be exactly Voldemort will do, but he does remind you that you might have some fires to put out of the public finds out you deliberate tricked Voldemort."

"If it finishes him off for good, then it's more than worth it," said Alexandra. "The Aurors are waiting, please keep us informed."

"I will when Harry has more information," responded Lily as she pulled herself away from the fire, as she turned to Ginny. "It's interesting that Harry's managing to keep a close eye on Voldemort, without him knowing."

"I have a pretty good idea how he's doing it and it is perfectly logical if you think of it," said Ginny and Lily nodded in sudden realization, it was so simple. Harry kept that talent of his a relatively low profile and that served him rather well, as it would be a useful weapon to keep an eye on Voldemort has his plan played out.

Voldemort dropped down in front of the Gaunt Shack, his robes billowing behind him. Voldemort's eyes widened, when he saw that his shack was reduced to nothing but a pile of rubble. Nothing remained standing, the stone laid on the ground. Only one way this could have happened was that someone had managed to bypass all of the defenses around the shack and steal the ring. Voldemort stood backwards, angrily shifting through the rubble, to verify that the magic simply had not failed when he was cast out of his body on that fateful Halloween at Godric's Hallow. Eventually, Voldemort had found what he was looking forward, the crushed pedestal that the ring would have been on. A simple charm had told Voldemort all he needed to know, that the ring had been removed. Voldemort levitated the pedestal into the air, before casually flinging it out of the way. The Dark Lord had found all he needed to know, two Horcruxes were certainly in the hands of Harry Potter and there was a potential to be as many as four in the hands. Voldemort did not sweat, but a small bit of anxiousness was spreading throughout his normally cool mood. Potter had survived certain death twice and now he was trying to get his hands on all of Voldemort's Horcruxes. A part of Voldemort wondered if Potter had figured out that the Horcruxes could not simply be destroyed to erase their existence, but rather the soul needed to be reconnected to return Voldemort's morality. Yet the two books on the subject had been disposed of. The Dark Lord had made sure of that, and he trusted both Eskara and Severus beyond many of his other followers.

Voldemort turned, robes billowing behind him as he walked. He needed to check the cliff overlooking his former Orphanage next. The locket should still have been in place, he was the only one who knew how to circumvent the protections around it, Potter could not have figured it out. Certainly, Regulus Black was nosing around, but Voldemort had him dealt with before the truth could be found and there would be no way Black could remove the locket, before making it out alive. Voldemort disapparated with a soft pop, as the raven from the tree watched the Dark Lord go, looking down at him with emerald green eyes, before the raven swooped down, into a heavily wooded area where it could not be seen.

Once again, Ginny found an incoming transmission on the mirror. It was blinking at a rather quick rate, it seemed that Voldemort was working fast, his patience was getting less by the second. Ginny paused a few seconds, before she made sure she got every bit of Harry's message. She sprung up, the fact that Harry continued to predict everything that Voldemort did was a bit unnerving but worked rather well into their places.

"Voldemort just visited the shack, he's discovered the ring is missing, he's off to look for the locket, Harry's said that Voldemort's broadcasting his thoughts, whatever that means," responded Ginny with a frown.

"I think it means that Voldemort is letting his Occlumency falter slightly, due to the horror of finding out about his Horcruxes and thus Harry's picking up what he's thinking at the time," suggested Lily. "Was that all?"

"Yes, it was," confirmed Ginny and with that Lily turned her attention back to the fireplace.

"Alexandra, he's discovered that the ring is gone, it won't be too much longer right now," reported Lily. "He's on his way to check the locket, only one more stop after that and Voldemort will know exactly what we know."

"Right, Lily," said Alexandra, before Lily's head disappeared from the fire. Voldemort continued to get closer to the breaking point and the Dark Lord would not let this matter rest for much longer. All they had to do is wait.

The water parted around Voldemort, as the boat he was on sped towards the cliff. The Dark Lord had hoped that he would never come near this wretched place, after he had killed everyone in the Orphanage and then stashed his Horcrux in the basin in the rocks. Voldemort continued his movement forward, several slimy hands poked their way out of the water, but relaxed once they realized that their master was the one approaching the treasure they had guarded. Staring ahead, Voldemort reached the edge of the cliff. Voldemort stepped off the boat, letting it drift, he could disapparate back once he had reached the top of the cliff. Step by step, Voldemort made his way up the side of the cliff. The rocks crumbled slightly, but a quick spell stabilized them. Carefully, Voldemort reached a large opening at the top of the cliff.

Stepping forward through the cave, Voldemort reached a worn basin. He waved his wand towards it, discovering that it had been tampered with. However, that meant little, he suspected that many may have come close to discovering his secrets but had perished due to the defenses. Voldemort tapped his wand three times to the side of the basin and a drain effect occurred, emptying the poison from the basin. Had anyone but Voldemort tried that tactic, the basin would begin to overflow, until the individual who had tried it would be swept out over the cliff into the waiting arms of the Inferi.

The poison was completely drained out and Voldemort's eyes widened to glee, as he saw a small golden locket at the bottom of the basin. A step forward had indicated that Voldemort had been premature in his glory, as the locket was a bit smaller than the Slytherin locket that had stored a seventh of his soul. Voldemort picked the locket up, he could feel nothing, except a small rattle of paper inside. No doubt it was a taunting message and it was obvious that Black had gotten to the locket first. If that was the case, then it was highly probable that Potter had somehow gotten the locket as well. Until he could rip the truth from Potter's mind, Voldemort felt he would be best served to assume that Potter did in fact have five of his Horcruxes.

Voldemort tossed the locket over the edge of the cliff, it was of no use. He watched it splash into the water below where a slimy hand came from the water and pulled it underneath. Voldemort turned on his back, to depart to Canada to check one final item. While Severus could no longer tell him anything due to his murder at the hands of Lily Potter, the guardian of the other book that detailed the truth about Horcruxes could tell him much. Voldemort disapparated once again with a pop, as the raven watched in the distance from high above, before it flew down

The mirror began to blink, flashing several times. Ginny turned to Lily to open her mouth but Alexandra's head was already in the fireplace.

"A detection ward has been set off in Canada, it's not strong enough because it's far North and not in our country, but it's still going off in the building, it's detecting a large quantity of dark magic," reported Alexandra quickly but she saw that Lily did not seem too surprised. "It's him, isn't it?"

"Yes it is," cut in Ginny from the end. "He's going to check, the book that Lily stole all those years ago, he's going to find out that the vampires no longer in position of the book. Oh and Harry wants us to report to the American Wizarding Government headquarters, so we can get into position for when it happens."

Lily nodded, before she and Ginny walked out of the room. They would take the portable transmat to the American Wizarding Government headquarters which would also serve to assist in transporting a huge group of individuals through any defenses that Voldemort would have had put around the border of Britain. It was certain that Voldemort would have outside Portkeys and Apparation heavily guarded, broomsticks would take too long, but in his arrogance, Voldemort would not think of Muggle means. Especially if said means were created from the closely guarded secrets of an alien race.

Voldemort swooped down on the ice ground in the Northern part of Canada. A building was nearby, Voldemort struggled through the cold winds. Even the warming charm on his robes could not shield him from the bitter cold that the vampires needed to survive. Coupled with the darkness, it was not the friendliest environments to even someone like Voldemort, who thrived in the darkness. Voldemort pushed forth, he would not let mere cold weather stop him and certainly enough, had seen an old, warn building, that some of the vampires that resided in Canada were known to live. Without bothering to knock, Voldemort blasted open the doors, walking into the dark dismal building.

Quickly, Voldemort conjured a candle and lit it, giving him light. A pale figure with blond hair and skin, dressed in red robes stepped forward, to confront Voldemort.

"Who dares enter?" demanded the vampire, his fangs bared, no doubt as an intimidation tactic but Voldemort was not impressed. He would rot out the dark creature's teeth if he had tried anything, making him unfit to suck any blood and thus he would wither and die.

"It is the Dark Lord," said Voldemort softly and the vampire's eyes widened, before he bowed down to the feet of the Dark Lord. Voldemort awaited for the vampire to readjust himself, before Voldemort stood face to face with the vampire.

"My lord, begging your pardon, but it may be of use to know that the American Wizarding Government has this area of Canada heavily monitored, after a certain incident a couple of years previous," said the vampire, but Voldemort just shrugged his shoulders with cold indifference.

"I care little about that, I am here to see Eskara, she should still be in possession of a book of mine," responded Voldemort softly and the vampire looked rather grave, causing Voldemort to take several steps forward. "Tell me where she is."

"She exists no longer, my Lord," said the vampire. "The incident we talked about, she attempted to freeze New York City to use it as a breeding ground for her army of vampires. The mutant Turtle creatures, Harry Potter, and his sibling had stopped them. She was reduced to nothing but ash, her followers crumbled to dust as well. It is said that this was to be retribution for the theft of a book, but I don't…"

Voldemort took a breath, eyes widening. He did not need any further information, he knew what book was stolen and he knew who stole it. Lifting his wand, he sent a orange blast of light right at the vampire. The vampire shrieked, as he began to burst into flames, before he reduced to nothing but dust. Voldemort stood, before he turned, walking off slowly. His best laid plans, they were overturned by Harry Potter, completely and utterly destroyed, wrecked. Voldemort stepped outside, back into the cold weather, before he disapparated back to Britain, to the Ministry. Potter would not survive what should have killed him a third time and this time, Voldemort would finish off Harry Potter.

The raven remained unmoving, perched, watching Voldemort leave. Voldemort's anger was growing more and more, he was pushed right into what Harry had predicted. The raven flew away, it was deathly cold in this wretched country, only fit for vampires and no other human life.

Pius Thicknesse looked up. While being Minister of Magic in name only, the government had ran much smoother since the Dark Lord had taken his proper control of Britain. Acts were pushed through much faster, everyone in the Wizengamot was on the same page. The Aurors were also much better trained, in a wide variety of spells to keep Muggles from stumbling upon their closely guarded secrets. The fact that he was even the figurehead Minister in the Ministry's greatest, most efficient period, pleased Thicknesse.

The doors burst open and Voldemort stepped forward, to face off Thicknesse, who put his quill down. It was rare that the Dark Lord graced him with his presence, normally he had relayed his instructions through someone like Lucius Malfoy.

"My lord, what a pleasant surprise," gushed Thicknesse. "Do pull up a seat…"

"Not now Thicknesse, take me to the broadcast room, I must send a message over the Wireless," responded Voldemort swiftly and Thicknesse looked at his master with a frown. Technically, only the Minister of Magic and the Head of the Auror office were authorized to use that frequency, but considering it was the Dark Lord, he could not exactly deny his request.

"Of course, right this way, my Lord," said Thicknesse quickly, as he pushed open the door of his office, leading Voldemort right to that area. Several people in the hallway quickened their steps, out of fear of the wrath of Voldemort. Thicknesse opened the door and a second later, Voldemort burst through, in a rather foul mood, before he sat down in front of the magical microphone. A Rune carved on the underside of a table had caused the channel to play randomly selected music when it was not in use from the Ministry. Using his wand, Voldemort deactivated that Rune and activated a second one underneath the table. This action had opened the channel.

"Everyone who listens to this will be best to remain silent, as this is Lord Voldemort and I have a message that is directed to the entire Wizarding World, especially the American Wizarding Government," said Voldemort coldly as his voice echoed throughout the frequency. "You have all defied Lord Voldemort, by keeping the status of a dangerous threat to Wizarding Britain silent. Yes, Harry Potter is in fact alive and I am not pleased by your deception against me."

Voldemort sat silently, no doubt many who had tuned into the Wireless would be shocked and he waited an amount of time to allow the words he spoke to fully sink in, before he continued his address to the Wizarding World.

"Potter, I do hope you're listening to this and if anyone who is in contact with Mr. Potter is listening, you better find him to relay the following message," continued Voldemort. "The Ministry of Magic will be declaring war on the American Wizarding Government in one hour, unless Harry Potter comes to face me and returns what he is stolen. If he does, all will be forgiven. If Potter should refuse to return my property to me, then I will not hesitate to wipe every American witch and wizard off of the planet. Do not test me Potter, I do not know how you managed to escape the last time, but I will find out. Bring them to me right now or your adopted country will suffer at my wand. You have exactly one hour Harry and should you delay one second later, my forces will storm New York City. I will await your decision in the Headmaster's office at Hogwarts. The password is overlord. And Potter, bring all five of them or else."

Voldemort deactivated the channel, before he rose to his feet and left the Ministry of Magic, where Thicknesse looked at Voldemort a bit frantic, as he had heard the message.

"My lord, declaring war on the American Wizarding Government?" demanded Thicknesse. "Our Aurors couldn't fight theirs, they don't have the laws we do, they won't hesitate to take any means necessary to defeat us. We can't win, as Minister, I simply cannot allow this."

"Then, you're fired," responded Voldemort, as he pointed his wand at Thicknesse, who braced himself for what came next. "Imperio"

A blank look appeared in the eyes of Thicknesse, he had been placed under the control of Voldemort.

"While you are no longer in charge of the Ministry, I require as many wands against Potter and his followers should it come to a battle," said Voldemort. "You will fight until you drop dead, Thicknesse. Report to Hogwarts within the hour, with as many Aurors as you can find."

"Yes, my Lord," slurred Thicknesse, a dreamy expression on his face, all of his cares in the world washed away in the haze he was put under. Thicknesse walked off, as Voldemort turned, to make his way back to Hogwarts. He had certain preparations to make if Potter did not come with him and turn over all five of his Horcruxes.

In the American Wizarding Government headquarters, Alexandra paced back and forth, before she turned to her Aurors. They had all heard Voldemort's ultimatum on the Wireless. While Harry Potter still living was a shock to many, some suspected that Potter had somehow survived his encounter with Voldemort. Still, there was no time to dwell on that, the Ministry of Magic or in reality, Voldemort, had threatened the stability of the American magical public by declaring war on them. They stood, prepared to defend their homes.

"Voldemort has declared war on us, but we're going to bring the fight to him," said Alexandra firmly. "In fifty minutes, we will begin to depart and land outside of Hogsmeade. Be ready to fight the second we touch the ground. Death Eaters are all over Hogsmeade, and there may be giants as well. We have prepared for this, remember your training and we should be seen through. It's important that we hold off the Death Eaters, so Voldemort's defeat goes off without a hitch."

The Aurors nodded, they knew whose path needed to be kept clean and clear, before Voldemort could be defeated. They moved over towards the next room, to join the exiles from Britain, along with the Turtles and Splinter, as they prepared for action. There would be just enough time to go over the plan of attack before they made their move. Basically, it was do or die.

Voldemort walked through the Hogwarts gates. The gates swung open on their own accord, as Voldemort stormed towards Hogwarts, the robes billowing behind his back. Explanations of how Potter managed to find this out were running through his mind, but nothing was adding up. Five of the six had been stolen and only one lifeline towards his immortality remained safe in the Dark Lord's hands. At least he had the presence of mind to keep one of his Horcruxes on hand, barely leaving his sight. Now more than ever, Voldemort had to keep Nagini secure, because if Potter got his hands on her, he could use the book and reunite his soul, allowing him to be kill. Not that Potter had the power, but Voldemort did not leave anything to chance. He had been wrong to think Potter had been killed, he could not risk being wrong for a second time.

Voldemort walked through the passageway, taking a short cut off to the Headmaster's office. He walked up the stairs, before he turned to the gargoyle.

"Overlord," hissed Voldemort, as the gargoyle swung open and Voldemort was allowed entrance to the office. On the floor, he saw Nagini still on the floor of the office, slithering around. Voldemort bent down to face his familiar, conjuring a cage, the door swinging open. "Nagini, into the cage, now, you must be protected with all costs."

Nagini obeyed, with the snake slithering into the cage without any hesitation. The cage swung shut and Voldemort lifted the cage up, before he shrunk it to the side of a matchbox with his snake inside. Voldemort stepped forward, putting the shrunken cage in his pocket. The snake could perish but it mattered little as the Horcrux would live in its corpse.

The raven flew right by the window, having watched the entire process of Voldemort hiding his sixth Horcrux, before it flew towards Hogsmeade, without Voldemort being any of the wiser. It was time to implement the next step of the plan, the clock was running down until the end of Voldemort's ultimatum

A pair of Death Eaters that were outside the gate watched intently. Their master had been in a towering temper, so they kept near the gate, ensuring that no one would pass them. The Death Eaters watched, staring forward, they could not even blink until their shift was relieved. Having been recruited in the past year, they were ambitious in wanting to prove themselves to their extremely powerful magic. One looked from side to side and at the second, a jagged piece of metal whizzed past his eyes, sticking in the side of the gate, causing him to jump, before they looked around. Turning around, the Death Eaters examined it closely.

"I'll go investigate," said one of the Death Eaters and his partner nodded, as he stepped forward, wand in the air, as he moved towards the direction of the disturbance. The Death Eater looked around, as he saw a flicker of movement entering the door through an abandoned house of Hogsmeade. He moved forward, to investigate the source. The door swung open and the Death Eater looked around. "Who's there? Come out, you're defying the power of the Dark Lord, so you better come out…"

A creaking sound was heard as the Death Eater turned around, before he walked towards a half open door. His wand was raised, he would have the intruder now, the Dark Lord would reward him. It was no doubt someone who was going to cause rebellion with the Dark Lord's plans. These were the last thoughts that the Death Eater had before someone's fist connected to the back of his head and he thumped to the ground, knocked completely unconscious by the force.

The Death Eater watching the gate looked up as his partner stepped forward. Leaning forward, the Death Eater opened his mouth, but his partner had cut him off.

"The intruder slipped away," said the Death Eater. "I am going to inform the Dark Lord that someone was causing trouble in the village."

The second Death Eater opened his mouth to protest that the Dark Lord did not want to be bothered, but that thought had passed him, as he returned to watching the gate, as his partner moved forward, walking towards the castle. Most of the others were inside the castle already, only those who had been given the task of patrolling Hogsmeade and guarding the gates remained outside.

Voldemort turned towards his Inner Circle or what remained of it after the two male Lestranges and Snape had perished. Dolohov, Bellatrix, Wormtail, and Lucius all stood back, as they could feel dark magical energy radiating off of their master, as he stood to face them, an ugly expression on his face.

"I am very displeased, Harry Potter still lives," hissed Voldemort, his snake like face contorting into anger, staring at his Inner Circle. "This presents us with an opportunity, an excuse to storm the United States of America and take control of that country. I had intended to wait another couple of years before we took that step, but they arrogantly denied my rule by keeping the status of Harry Potter a secret. Unless Potter returns with my property in the next half hour, they will pay, starting with Potter's friends and family in New York, especially those mutants. All who get in my way will be flattened."

"My lord, respectively speaking, we do not have the resources to stage a full scale invasion of the United States," said Lucius and Voldemort just slowly turned to Lucius, he seemed to regret his words, but Voldemort decided to elaborate for Lucius.

"I am well aware of it, but our hand has been forced," responded Voldemort in a deadly, soft voice, as Lucius nodded. "Now, I have given the matter much thought and Salazar Tower was well equipped to allow us to take control of Hogwarts. However, it is not well equipped to let us roll over an entire country. That matter will be rectified as I am having my entire stock of power crystals moved to Hogwarts. I will use the school's magic, to propel in through the country and over the ocean, before I land it in New York City. Many will perish, but they will be mere collateral. As for the students in this school, I am aware that many of them still show signs of resistance, even though they have made an attempt to do what we instruct. All students will be required to fight until the death. So put them under the Imperius Curse right now. You have your instructions, now go forth and round them all up."

Wormtail, Bellatrix, Lucius, and Dolohov wasted no time in departing. Privately, they wondered if Potter's return had unhinged their master, as he had been making grandiose plans on a short notice, when he had previously preferred a slow but steady approach in gaining power. Naturally, these concerns remained rather private; the Dark Lord's temper was not an element that would be tested. They just departed, to begin the process of rounding up all the students who had not taken to the dark arts training.

"Patience Wormtail," muttered the voice in Wormtail's ear. "Once Potter arrives, I am counting on you to get the Dark Lord to call the Dementors."

"What makes you think Potter will come and why the Dementors?" thought Wormtail, but the voice in his head remained quiet.

"He always comes, he will not disappoint us this time and as for your second question, I will allow you to find out soon enough, Wormtail," responded the voice. "Remember, when you succeed, you will get what you desire above all else. That much is for certain."

Wormtail nodded. He greedily anticipated the gift he had been promised. It would be a great day for Wormtail when Voldemort and the rest of the world were bowing down before him.

Voldemort consulted the time, Potter had five minutes until he was to come to him. He received a message from Bellatrix that all the students had been put under the Imperius, with simple orders to fight to the death for the Dark Lord. He watched as the crystals were in his office, all that needed to occur was to activate them. At that moment, the door of Voldemort's office slid open and Voldemort stood up, expecting Potter, but was disappointed when it was only one of his many Death Eaters.

"This had better be important," prompted Voldemort.

"Harry Potter is here, he's inside the school!" yelled the Death Eater frantically and Voldemort walked forward, facing his Death Eater, holding his wand.

"Where, tell me?" demanded Voldemort and the robed wizard stepped back in what Voldemort interpreted as fear, but it could be further from the truth, as Voldemort was caught off guard, blasted right into the book shelf in the office, the portraits of the past Headmasters looking forward. Voldemort angrily pulled himself to his feet and the Death Eater that was before he had dropped the robes and mask, to replaced by the one and only Harry Potter.

"Right in front of your face, Riddle," responded Harry, as Voldemort swooped forward and the two powerful wizards proceeded to duel.


	38. Chapter 38: Unleashed

**Chapter Thirty Eight: Unleashed**

Voldemort sprung around, setting razor wire in the air, attempting to wrap it around Harry, but Harry dodged out of the way, before he leapt up onto the desk, and aimed a kick right into the face of Voldemort. The Dark Lord caught Harry's leg and flung him off to the side, but Harry bounced off and knocked Voldemort backwards. A match shaped object slid out of Voldemort's pocket and Harry quickly pocketed it himself, but Voldemort was up. A flesh rotting curse was deflected by Harry and Harry moved around, before he tapped his wand towards Voldemort's bookcase. It blasted right towards Voldemort but the Dark Lord slashed his wand. The books were ripped and the shelf was reduced to dust, but right there, Harry had swerved around Voldemort and threw a pair of daggers towards Voldemort. Voldemort magically deflected them magically and sprung up. His hands were extended towards Harry's throat but Harry managed to fling Voldemort right into the wall. Harry dove forward and blasted the Dark Lord right through the office door and busting the gargoyle up as well. Harry moved forward into the attack.

"I don't know how you survived Potter, but you won't survive again," said Voldemort angrily, as their attempted spells met in mid air, ricocheting off of each other. One struck a painting off to the side, setting it on fire and forcing the occupants to flee. Another one impacted a suit of armor, shattering it into pieces. Voldemort and Harry continued their battle, before Harry levitated the detached iron mace in the air, before he magically spun it in the air, before he swung it, smashing Voldemort right in the chest. A second smash was blocked, as Voldemort shattered the mace into dust, before he blasted Harry right in the chest, in an attempt to send him down the stairs. Harry hung on and swung around, before he managed to catch Voldemort off guard with a double kick to the face. A second attack was blocked but Harry used Voldemort's attempt to block to swerve around and summon the rug that Voldemort was standing on out from underneath him. Voldemort gave an angry hiss, as he nearly lost his balance, but firmly landed right on his feet.

Large green flames erupted from Voldemort's wand and moved towards Harry. Instantly, Harry put them out with splashes of water from his wand. Voldemort looked shocked, no wizard could conjure that amount of water, unless he had strong mystical abilities but there had been none like that since Salazar Slytherin, not even Merlin. Harry took advantage of Voldemort's momentary distraction, blasting a Kusari-Gama right. Voldemort gave an anguished hiss, as the sickle hooked his arm. Harry gave the chain a pull, ripping the flesh on Voldemort's arm, before he caused the chain to wrap around Voldemort. Voldemort contorted himself into a black ooze and came from behind Harry, aiming a bone snapping hex at the jaw, which Harry blocked.

The Death Eaters in Hogsmeade had moved forward, the Dark Lord had sounded the alarm, to summon them to Hogwarts, but a series of spells whizzed through the air. Some of the Death Eaters were struck in the back, knocked down to the ground, either immobilized and having their legs broken. Other Death Eaters moved forward, before they saw a group of American Aurors, firing spells right at them. Most of these Death Eaters were not trained that well. A few attacks were easily blocked and other than the odd small cut, the American Aurors quickly immobilized the long rung Death Eaters in Hogsmeade.

"Take them to the transmat and take them to the holding cell in Alaska!" ordered Alexandra. "We don't need them to recover and cause problems, come on, quickly."

The American Aurors transferred the group of downed Death Eaters onto one pile, as Ginny and Lily stepped forward, leading the members of Harry's resistance group, along with the Turtles and Master Splinter, forward through the gates of Hogwarts, the lone guard at the gate dropping easily thanks to a stunning spell. The group looked up at the rumbling, as they saw a trio of giants. The three giants gave a roar, raising the clubs in their hands, before they rushed forward.

"Giants, we need to distract them, until those Death Eaters are transported away," remarked Lily and the Turtles nodded, before Mikey picked up a rock and flung it right at the face of one of the giants. The giant moved towards Mikey, giving a rumbling roar, as the ground smashed. Mikey gave a scream, as he dodged out of the way, as the other three Turtles and Master Splinter ran around, drawing the attention of the giants away, which allowed Harry's resistance group to slip beside, to get to the school to engage the higher ranking Death Eaters in battle.

"Come on, follow me!" taunted Raph and the giant, not being very intelligent, took the bait, swinging the large tree sized club down to the ground, but Raph was quicker, the giant smashed the club it into the ground, causing a miniature crater in the ground. Quickly Don sprung up using his Bo Staff, catching the giant in the back of the leg as Leo swiped his sword against the leg of another giant. Leo dodged fist the size of a house and it ripped through several trees in the Forbidden Forest, completely obliterating them. The giant smashed its beefy arm towards the ground once again, as Mikey continued to move around.

"Where are the American Aurors when we need them, I don't think we can keep this up for much longer," questioned Mikey, as Master Splinter moved forward, jabbing his walking stick into the toe of one of the giants. The giant gave a bellow and moved towards Splinter, swiping its large hand towards the rat, but Splinter quickly moved out of the way, as he motioned for Leo to assist him. Two giants charged their prey but quickly, the two warriors jumped out of the way. The clubs cracked into their heads, knocking them loopy, but the two giants continued to go around the attacks.

Inside the school, Lily, Ginny, Sirius, Remus, Tonks, and Hermione moved in, they were one of the teams that had split up into the school. They had agreed that certain Death Eaters were to be taken out on this mission, but it would take many wands to take these out, once they had found these Death Eaters. A tapestry was pulled off, as they pointed their wands forward, but relaxed slightly when they had saw it was a small group of fourth and fifth year students.

"They don't belong here," said one of the students in a dreamy voice. "Destroy them for the Dark Lord."

Ginny put up a shield, as a slicing charm was aimed right at her throat. Lily blocked an attempted curse, blocking the attack, as the students proceeded to move forward, firing spell after spell in a rapid fire motion, in an attempt to take them out.

"They're under the Imperius Curse!" yelled Ginny in sudden realization, as she blocked the attack, which earned several shocked gasps, as Voldemort had used innocent students as canon fodder for his army, even if they were not all that willing to join him. "Be careful not to hurt them, just immobilize them, they don't know what they're doing!"

Ginny quickly deflected a stunning spell back into the wall, before responding with one of her own. Tonks dodged a pair of concussion curses, before she blasted the students with stunning spells. They were dropped to the ground, but considering the other students were only programmed to fight to the death, they did not help their fellow students. Sirius was almost tied up with thick cables by three of the students, but he managed to send the attack back at them, immobilizing the students, allowing Lily to fire a stunning spell from behind on the other end. Hermione was pushed against the wall and one of the students raised his wand, but a loud crack caught the student from behind. The student spun around, as Ginny magically broke his wand arm, before tying him up to a suit of armor.

"Move them outside in the Great Hall!" yelled Lily frantically, looking over her shoulder cautiously, as she helped Sirius and Tonks stun the other students, before they magically pulled them up into the air with invisible ropes. "The rest of you keep an eye out for more, I wouldn't put it past Voldemort to have every student in the school put under the Imperius Curse."

They nodded, as all they could do right at the moment was to slowly move through the school, as Voldemort had more than a few tricks up his sleeve. Seconds later, Lily, Sirius, and Tonks reappeared, with Lily sealing the exit to the Great Hall, using a charm that she could only deactivate, before they moved forward down the corridors, ready to fight at a second's notice. The fact that the corridors were silent actually was more troubling, which means the Death Eaters were waiting for an ambush.

The giants rumbled around, circling around Leo, Don, Mikey, Raph, and Master Splinter. They rose their clubs, but several thick cords shot out, wrapping around the clubs of the giants. The giants spun around, angrily growling as they began to struggle. The American Aurors came down from below, blasting several spells right towards the eyes of the giants. The large imposing figures stumbled around, towards the Hogwarts lake, before they toppled over, falling into the lake with a splash. The three giants were isolated in an area of the lake, as the Aurors froze the lake. This process took a couple of minutes, but the giants could not recover long enough until they were done. After the Aurors had completed the process, the giants were trapped in an ice coffin. Alexandra looked around, in case there were more. The Ministry of Magic was stalled, but they would be able to break in a matter of moments. In fact, the loud bang outside of Hogsmeade indicated that the Ministry Aurors were on their way.

"Everyone prepare to fight, we can't be for certain who is with Voldemort and who is being coerced to fight," ordered Alexandra, as she saw Thicknesse walk forward in the distance, with several Aurors standing behind them, holding their wands.

"This is the Ministry of Magic, surrender your wands or…" started Thicknesse, but he was cut off by a silencing charm, before the American Aurors swooped forward. The Ministry Aurors were a bit better trained in magic under the new Voldemort regime. However, they lacked the teamwork that many of the American Aurors had been delving into for years. A poorly attempted Killing Curse was avoided, before vines shot out of the ground, pulling one of the Ministry Aurors into the tree. A pair of Ministry Aurors lost their wands, thus they looked around in confusion, before their arms and legs were shackled together, dropping to the ground. An Arrow pierced a young American Auror right in the arm, as blood dripped down to the ground, but the fight raged on, it did not stop for any man at all. A barrage of Killing Curses was just barely contained with an overlapping shield charm. The shield caused some to drop in exhaustion depending on their positioning.

"Keep fighting, don't stop!" called Alexandra, as she wrapped up the arms and legs of one of the Ministry Aurors in razor wire. One move, and he would slice his arms and legs up. Another Auror moved forward to free his partner, but a loud crack echoed and his sternum was cracked. This slowed down the Ministry Auror, as several of them had attempted to sneak off towards Hogwarts, no doubt retreating, but they found their legs being snapped together. They fell right on the ground on their faces, and they were dragged out of sight, to join their captured associates. Alexandra quickly turned herself towards the head of the Auror office. "Take half of them make sure none have snuck back into Hogwarts, I'm going to take the rest into Hogwarts, they won't get far."

The lead Auror nodded, before they divided, half of them entering the village, with the other half following Alexandra into Hogwarts. No doubt the Ministry Aurors would join Voldemort and his legions of Death Eaters inside the school.

Harry found himself knocked backwards into the wall. The last second was all Harry had to put a cushioning charm up against the wall, to keep his back from cracking. Voldemort swooped forward, and a piercing curse shot right towards Harry's heart. The shield Harry put up stopped it but Harry sprung up and grabbed Voldemort around the arm. Harry's hand began to burn, as Voldemort turned around, grabbing Harry by the throat with his pale hand. A loud crack and Harry had difficulty breathing because of the broken rib that Voldemort had caused him. Harry looked above, as Voldemort stood at the edge of the stairs. Orange light went right towards Harry's wand arm. Harry deflected it upwards and completely blew a hole right through the ceiling. Harry's eyes drifted up, he saw that Voldemort was on the edge of the stairs. He had one chance.

"CATCH RIDDLE!" shouted Harry suddenly, as he threw a pair of shuriken at Voldemort. Voldemort just blasted them to the side with his wand, and they stuck on the edge of the stair that Voldemort stood on. Seconds later, they exploded, causing Voldemort to lose his balance and Harry rushed forward, knocking Voldemort right in the face with a magically enhanced punch. Moving around, Harry slid down the railing of the stairs, before he swung his feet, right at Voldemort's face. Voldemort crashed down on the next level and Harry quickly whipped his wrist around. A loud crash echoed throughout the school as Voldemort flew right into the banisters. Harry stepped down, as Voldemort laid immobile for one minute, but only for a moment, as Voldemort pulled himself to a standing position, before he shot ropes out of his wand. The ropes wrapped around Harry's throat, as Voldemort caused them to contract. Harry gasped for air, struggling to remain alive, as Voldemort contained his grip.

"This time Potter, you die," said Voldemort dangerously, as Harry felt the air out of him and instinctively, a large blast of water connected with the ropes, loosening them slightly and allowing Harry to get out. Fire connected right towards Voldemort, burning the flesh off of his face. Harry took advantage of Voldemort's momentary discomfort by stunning him with two more blows. A flesh rotting curse was deflected by an exact duplicate of Harry, as he moved around, a sword in hand. Harry rushed forward and swung the sword at Voldemort but Voldemort blocked it with a conjured effort of his own. The swords clashed together, as Voldemort sent a spell. Harry was not caught off guard by this attack, as he returned in kind, before he attempted to stab Voldemort. Voldemort deflected the attack before both of the wizards swerved around each other, continuing their sword fight, with curses thrown in when necessary. Thank to his stolen abilities, Voldemort managed to keep up with Harry, but Harry was slowly but surely wearing down the Dark Lord's defenses. It was important for Harry to severely wound Voldemort so he could not fight back, so he could reunite the Horcruxes with the shredded soul within Voldemort's body.

Hailey, Neville, Luna, and Ron had lead another small group down the corridor, when a group of students with blank, vapid expressions in their eyes burst out from behind a secret corridor and began shooting spells at them suddenly. They just dodged and ducked the attacks. A couple of the members of the Resistance group dropped down to the ground, but the possessed students met stunning spells.

"They're under the Imperius, so only use stunners, full body binds, and disarming spells," said Luna calmly, as she disarmed a rough and worn looking sixth year. Ron had just barely avoided a slicing charm right to his ear and the student that sent it at him was dropped with a stunning spell to the back. A group of them had ganged up on Hailey, but Neville managed to take out one of them with the stunner. Hailey put up a shield charm, which blocked an organ explosion curse. The student paused, some of the effects of the Imperius that were wearing off, but this allowed Hailey to slip through, stunning him and dropping him to the ground. Another student sent a flesh rotting spell at her, but she managed to avoid it by dodging out of the way. Hailey quickly immobilized her opponent, taking her out of the picture quickly.

"Lots of them are coming aren't they, did Voldemort put the whole school under?" asked Neville, as he managed to secure another one of the students, as a couple more had dropped down from stunners, while Ron had moved in for the other side, managing to catch a skilled seventh year who was dueling two members of Harry's resistance group off guard. A stunner dropped the seventh year.

"Wouldn't really surprise me," said Hailey quickly, as she dodged around, ripping a tapestry off the wall. A flick of her wand caused it to wrap around the body of one of her attackers, which allowed Hailey to stun him. Another couple of students dropped down to the ground, as the group looked around, with a sigh of relief, as several stunned and otherwise immobilized students laid on the ground. "I hope that's all of them."

"Guess again, little girl!" cooed an insane voice, as Bellatrix Lestrange moved forward. Her mere presence caused Neville to clench his fist against his wand, looking up at the Death Eater who had tortured his parents into insanity and she was not along, as she was followed by at least twenty other Death Eaters, all looking rather nasty and intending to do some serious damage to their enemies.

Lily, Ginny, Sirius, Remus, Tonks, and Hermione all made their way down the hallway, wands at the ready, looking around every corner as they moved. They had met two other groups of students under the Imperius Curse. It would be very impossible for them to account for all of the students in the school and indeed, impossible to tell if anyone was either under Voldemort's control or working for him under their own accord. Ginny pulled out the Marauder's map, consulting it. Her eyes widened, she had saw that Harry and Voldemort were battling a couple of floors above them and a group of Death Eaters lead by Bellatrix Lestrange had cornered the other group on the floor above.

"We need to get up to the next floor, now!" shouted Ginny in an urgent voice and the others turned to her, but she did not give them the opportunity to ask question. "She's on the next floor, she's going to attack them. They're going to need all the help they can get with her."

The group hastened their steps, as there could be only one her that could inspire this kind of urgency. They made their way to the stairs, the quickest route to the next floor, but unfortunately, a group of Death Eaters were at the top of the stairs.

"AVADA KEDAVRA!" yelled one of the Death Eaters, aiming the curse right at Ginny, who rolled out of the way of the curse, causing it to harmlessly hit the ground, before she threw a dagger upwards, connecting with the wand hand, before she attempted to blast the stairs out from underneath them as the Death Eaters raced down them, firing spells in every which direction. The others joined Ginny, but the Death Eaters managed to slow their descent before going down, to properly battle the ground. The air was filled with curses, as Ginny dodged a piercing hex before a bone breaking curse hit the offending Death Eater right in the face. The Death Eater slumped to the ground, bleeding from his nose.

"Do not allow them to pass, kill if necessary," ordered Lucius Malfoy swiftly and the Death Eaters fought, not limited slightly like the students that were placed on the Imperius Curse. It was just as well, as their opponents were not holding back, as one of the Death Eater's had both of his arms rotted off at the shoulders, as he fell to the ground, slowly bleeding to a death. Lucius and Sirius dueled in the distance, as Ginny fought two Death Eaters at the same time, Lily fighting a particular skilled masked Death Eater, and the others had dueled in the distance, as the air was filled with recently cast magic, more spells being fired off at every passing second.

Wormtail watched the chaos from afar, in his form as a rat. The crystals had been all moved to the area that Voldemort had indicated, so they could best siphon the power from Hogwarts, once he began his latest conquest. For some reason, this pleased the voice in Wormtail's ear greatly. As Wormtail scurried, seeing Lily, Sirius, and Remus in the distance, he needed to remain out of sight, as they would surely recognized his Animagus form and ruin everything.

"The Dark Lord may require your help soon, get to him, suggest he uses the Eye of Darkness to call the Dementors, to allow them to finish off Potter," hissed the voice in Wormtail's ear. "Then, we will be moments away from getting what we need, Wormtail."

Wormtail mentally agreed, he would finally get the power he deserved, what he desired above all else.

The Turtles had now slipped into the school, along with Master Splinter. The American Wizarding Government Aurors were right behind them, but Splinter motioned for his sons to enter the shadows, as some masked figures walked up the stairs, carrying large crystals in their hands as they moved up the stairs.

"This is the last of them, the Dark Lord will be pleased, with them in position," muttered one of the Death Eaters.

"We can take them out easily," said Raph in a confident voice, but a jet of red light flew off from the side, as a small group of students walked forward, blank expressions in their eyes, as they began to attack the Turtles and Master Splinter.

"Do not harm them, they are under a spell," responded Master Splinter, as he leapt up, before he swung his walking stick, knocking the wand out of one of the student's hands, before disarming him. Leo sprung forward and dodged a stinging hex, before he grabbed the student by the arm, pulling the wand out of his hand, and then flung him on top of another student. A third year girl aimed her wand at Raph but Raph expertly threw his Sai right at the hand of the witch. The wand was knocked out of the hand of the girl, and the arms and legs snapped together, before the Aurors moved up the stairs.

"We've got all the Ministry Aurors wrapped up, we'll question them later, figure out who was being coerced into joining up with Voldemort and who wasn't, you five go on ahead and see if there is any more students," said Alexandra and the Turtles and Master Splinter nodded, as the American Aurors made rather quick work of the students, before a group of Death Eaters lead by Dolohov moved down the hallway, before facing off against the American Aurors, sending deadly curses at them. One of the American Aurors was unfortunately cut, screaming in agony as the skin was shredded off of his bones. Quickly, the Aurors adjusted their positioning, shooting spells at the Death Eaters. The wand was blasted right out of the hand of one of the Death Eaters, as a spear was impaled right through his body, killing him instantly. A heart stopping curse delivered by Dolohov was blocked by another Auror and the dark wizard catcher fought back, but Dolohov dodged out of the way. Spells flew in each directly, as the battles raged on through the halls of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Voldemort moved around, blood dripping from his arm. Potter had managed to wound him slightly, but Potter had his own troubles, fighting a pair of animated statues. Voldemort used his wand, repairing the stab wounds, as Potter ducked under the decapitating attacks of the animated statues. A blasting spell obliterated the stone statue to dust and then the other one moved forward, but the Boy-Who-Lived sprung off the walls and landed on his feet, right behind the statue. A blast of fire crashed against the statue from behind, which caused it to burst into flames.

Harry sighed in relief, the statue had been defeated but he spun around just in time to block a curse from Voldemort. Voldemort slashed his wand, but Harry did the same. Both magic spells clashed in mid air and Voldemort rushed forward, sword raised, but Harry blocked it. The swords pushed against each other, metal clashing against each other. Another clang of metal echoed, as Harry leapt up, but Voldemort matched his movement. Harry quickly swung the sword and Voldemort' gave a hiss as his sword broke. Before Voldemort could conjure another one, several steel spikes blasted towards Voldemort. Voldemort flew backwards, spikes stuck into his arms. Harry sprung in the air, sword raised as Voldemort was pinned to the wall by spikes stuck in his arms. The sword slashed against the side of Voldemort's face, drawing blood. Voldemort slumped down, but his body contorted into a black shadow, causing the spikes to drop to the ground. Voldemort shot down the hallway. Harry shot an attempted freezing spell, but the shadow continued to travel down the hallway. He was unaware that Voldemort could do that and was rather annoyed, as this could complicate the matters to defeat Voldemort. Only one more heavy impact and Voldemort would have been softened up enough for the Horcruxes to be reunited to his soul.

Bellatrix cackled madly, as she motioned for the Death Eaters to attack. Green lights flew through the air, but Hailey flicked her wand into the air. A sonic vibration echoed towards the Death Eaters causing them to drop to the ground. Bellatrix shrieked angrily.

"Little trick Harry taught me, hit them with everything before they recover!" shouted Hailey, taking control of the situation. A blast of yellow light hit the Death Eater in the chest, causing him to laugh hysterically, before he ran off towards an open window and dove right out. A few stunning spells caught the Death Eaters off guard, and Luna blocked a coma curse by one of the Death Eaters that just recovered, before a white light blasted the Death Eater right in the face. He fell to the ground, motionlessly. Ron managed to banish one of the Death Eaters back. It wasn't pretty, but it was rather effective, before Bellatrix rushed over, magically hoisting Ron off the ground, before she flung the young Weasley male across the hallway. Ron landed with a thud, as Bellatrix stalked her prey.

"CRUCIO!" shouted Bellatrix and Ron screamed in absolute agony, but it was only a few seconds of torture, as Bellatrix spun around and blasted an organ explosion curse at someone who had attempted to curse her from behind. The spell hit his lung and he dropped to the ground, as Bellatrix watched several other Death Eaters drop to the ground. She would at least outnumbered twelve to one at this rate, so she slipped through a secret passageway.

Neville saw Bellatrix get away and ran after her.

"Neville, wait!" shouted Hailey causing Neville to stop.

"I have to fight her, Hailey. You know what she did to my parents and...what she did to you," said Neville firmly. "And who knows what she's done to countless others, someone has to stop her."

Without another word, Neville ran off after Bellatrix, an action that prompted Hailey to throw her hands up in the air in frustration.

"Gryffindors!" sighed Hailey in irritation, as she rushed after her friend, to make sure he did not get himself killed against Bellatrix. Neville was good, but Bellatrix had matched both Harry and Lily in duels in the past, was the Dark Lord's second in command. Bless him, but Neville really was not at that level.

Lily dodged a head splitting curse from her opponent on the floor below. Moving around, the Death Eater screamed in pain. The charm that Lily had sent at him had amplified the pain sensors of his nerves by several times. Even the air hitting him, caused him immense pain. When another one brushed against him, the Death Eater dropped to the ground, shrieking his head off madly, the pain racking through his body. Lily moved forward, taking two more out, as Hermione and Lucius faced off. Lucius threw an inflammatory intestines curse right at Hermione but Hermione put the shield up. The shield was partially drilled through but the brunt of the spell was blocked, with Hermione only getting knocked to her back. Lucius prepared to take advantage of Hermione as Ginny blasted Lucius right in the side. Lucius dropped to a knee, the wind taken out of him, as Ginny swooped in on him, aiming a spell right towards Lucius's eyes. Had it connected, Lucius's eyes would have been burned out, but thankfully for him, he blocked it. Ginny continued to fight, as Tonks had wrapped up a tough Death Eater on the other side, with Sirius and Remus continuing to work in, but some more Death Eaters had joined the fight, no doubt having been summoned from beyond Hogwarts.

Lily welcomed a new arrival by hitting him with a spell right to the throat. The attacker fell backwards, he could still breath, but each breath he took inflamed his throat. Each moment of his existence was a painful moment. A loud snap echoed and Sirius stood behind a Death Eater with his wand, the Death Eater incapacitated. Lucius moved forward, spinning his wand and attempting to blast Ginny, but she blocked the curse. Ginny fired a dagger at Lucius's throat, but Lucius reduced it to dust just a nano second before it would have hit.

"You think you can fight me," said Lucius in a calm, amused voice, as Ginny winced, as Lucius had shattered her wrist with a spell. She managed to fight through the pain long enough to block a flesh rotting curse, before she aimed another spell at Lucius, who blocked it. "A Weasley beating a Malfoy, you are way out of your league, you loathsome little blood traitor."

Ginny, through a burst of magic, broke through Lucius's shield. This caught him off guard, as a loud crack echoed. Lucius was slumped over, he felt several of his ribs broken and Ginny moved forward, before another crack. The wand in his hand had snapped, along with every bone in his right hand. Lucius tried a slight disorientation curse wandlessly but his wandless magic was quite subpar and Ginny blocked that too, before Lucius was blasted back into a suit of armor. Lucius was severely injured, as Ginny stepped forward before she raised her wand into the air, pointed towards the neck of Lucius. Ginny pulled her arm back and Lucius dropped to the ground, his neck magically snapped. Lucius Malfoy did not manage to complete taking a final breath, as his lifeless body dropped to the ground. Ginny nodded, in a poetic amount of justice, the man that had slipped her the Horcrux diary that nearly gotten her and Harry both killed had been finished off by her hand.

Ginny had little time to savior her victory over Lucius, as another Death Eater had attempted to blast her in the spine with a bone breaking curse. Her reflexes only saved her ability to walk and two spells ricocheted off of each other, before she wrapped ropes around the arms and legs of her opponent. An electrical shock pulsed through the ropes and dropped the Death Eater to the ground. Tonks had managed to defeat her latest opponent and Lily was having a bit of trouble. A few more Death Eaters had joined the fight, but they were slowly down, Voldemort was running out of bodies to throw at them. There were at least about fifteen or twenty they could see in the hallway, and perhaps a few more at strategic locations to attack, but Voldemort's forces were beginning to slightly wind down, with several dead and many more knocked out of the battle.

Neville rushed down the hallway, wand drawn. Bellatrix could not have gotten too far. He looked around, intense look in his eyes, thinking of his parents, that Bellatrix had attacked. His entire life, he attempted to live up to the reputations of the parents and when Harry had created a Defense Against the Dark Arts study group during Umbridge's reign of terror, he worked hard to apply himself. Neville knew he was not the best, but he was not the worst either.

A flicker of movement down the hallway had drew Neville out of his sights and he saw the face of Bellatrix down at the hallway. Neville raised his wand and sent a flesh tearing curse at Bellatrix, but Bellatrix calmly deflected it, as she laughed like a madwoman.

"Longbottom, I give you credit you have guts, it's a shame that I'm going to have to splatter them all over the walls!" cackled Bellatrix as Neville threw another spell at the insane Death Eater, who deflected it, as her scarred face faced Neville, as she blasted him backwards. Neville landed on his feet, before Bellatrix slashed her wand. A cut opened on Neville's cheek as blood splashed to the floor. "I'm trained by the Dark Lord himself, you are nothing Longbottom. You have no one to help you…"

"He has me, Lestrange," said Hailey as she moved forward, as several arrows shot through the air. Bellatrix casually deflected them all off, causing them to pierce the wall, before she turned to Hailey, before Bellatrix whipped her wand. The ground shook beneath Hailey and Neville, causing them to lose their balance. Neville was wrapped up in thick black ropes as he fell to the ground, before a spell hit Hailey right in the side of the head. It caused her to become dizzy, her entire equilibrium screwed up as she continued to collapse them to the ground.

"Longbottom, the more you move, the more those ropes contract, until you're crushed to death!" shrieked Bellatrix triumphantly, before she turned to a dazed Hailey. "No Mummy to bail you out this time, little girl. CRUCIO!"

Hailey screamed which was music to the ears of Bellatrix. The girl squirmed, as Bellatrix continued to pour the pain on. Neville watched desperately, as Hailey was slowly tortured right before his very eyes, wishing that she never would have followed him. The ropes were slowly, painfully crushing Neville's body. It was hard to take a breath without drawing the spell effect.

Hailey was about to claw her own eyes out but she looked up at Bellatrix, drawing in a breath, seeing her wand arm. The original had been ripped off by her mother in the fight last year. Voldemort had apparently replaced it with a metal prosthetic. Hailey managed to twitch her fingers around her wand, before grabbing it, as Bellatrix was too distracted by her fun to care. Quickly, Hailey tried to concentrate through the haze of pain, as she aimed her wand right towards the arm of Bellatrix. Bellatrix's cackles stopped, when she realized she could no longer move her wand, as it began to rust completely and slowly, she was being poisoned as the spell seeped through her body.

"WHAT DID YOU DO?" shouted Bellatrix angrily, but she could hardly move and Hailey quickly moved over, before she put a cooling charm on the ropes wrapped around Neville. This allowed Hailey to cut him free. Neville pulled himself up, a little woozy but at least still alive as Bellatrix could not move anything but her lips and her eyes. "YOU FOOLS! I'LL KILL YOU! ALL OF YOU! YOUR ENTIRE FAMILY WILL DIE AT THE HANDS OF THE DARK LORD YOU FILTHY LITTLE HALF BLOOD!"

"I've had enough of you," said Neville through narrowed eyes, as he pointed his wand at Bellatrix, a swirl of grey light circling towards her. Bellatrix's eyes widened in fear, she would have never thought Longbottom would be capable of such a spell. According to Lucius's brat, her disgraced nephew, he was little more than a squib. Bellatrix was impacted right in the chest as the spell drilled right through her body, ripping her apart. Neville staggered forward, but Hailey managed to catch him. He appeared to be exhausted from that spell. Neville readjusted himself, looking at Bellatrix or rather what was left at her, a bit of him shocked at what he was capable of.

"It had to be done Neville," said Hailey quietly, as she looked in his eyes. "I'm just sorry you were the one who had to do it..."

"No, it had to be me," responded Neville, as he managed to regain his bearings, as he looked at Hailey. "Thanks for saving me."

"You would have done the same for me if it had been reversed," said Hailey.

"I would have but I don't know if I could have," said Neville, but Hailey leaned forward, before kissing Neville on the cheek.

"I know you could have, now let's go, someone might need our help," responded Hailey, as Neville followed, stunned at what had happened. Hailey would not have done something like that, unless she liked him like that too. Neville tried to push these thoughts out of his mind, there was a battle with Voldemort and his minions going on, there would be plenty of time to worry about such matters like that later.

Voldemort's shadow form contorted into his body, as he staggered around. Most of his wounds had healed himself, but Potter had really gave him a fight.

"Out of my way Wormtail, unless you have a way to finish Potter off once and for all," stated Voldemort coldly as he met the traitorous rat in the hallway.

"My Lord, the Dementors, you can call them, Potter was rather weak against them when they guarded the school during his third year," suggested Wormtail and Voldemort just turned his back, before he summoned the Eye of Darkness. His legions of Dementors would come and with Potter's soul sucked right out of his body, it would be not difficult at all to kill him.

Harry arrived, he had found Voldemort and his eyes widened. Voldemort had the Eye of Darkness. He should have known and Voldemort did not know the danger he could command, especially if it was destroyed. At that moment, Harry felt his bones chill, as fog kicked in the hallway, as several Dementors glided down the hallway. Harry aimed his mirror counterpart's wand that he had on him just in case Voldemort had summoned the Dementors. He attempted to concentrate on an entire section of happy memories, to give the Patronus strength to fight off what looked to be hundreds of Dementors.

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" shouted Harry and a large shining raven burst from the wall, soaring right towards the Dementors. It began to falter almost immediately, but Harry turned towards Voldemort, who had the Eye of Darkness between his fingers. "Surrender it right now, Riddle, you don't know what that thing can do?"

"I know exactly what it can do Potter, bring about your destruction," responded Voldemort softly. "Your little patronus is already failing and more are on the way, soon every Dementor in the world will come to his location. But, don't worry Harry, it's nothing to lose your soul over!"

Voldemort gave Harry a high cold round of laughter, as the Dementors had pushed through the raven patronus like it was nothing.

"That's exactly what I'm afraid of," muttered Harry as he spun around, and held the wand right at it. "EXPECTO PATRONUM!"

A second raven had joined the rapidly fading one as Harry spun around, attempting to grab onto the Eye of Darkness, but Voldemort threw Harry right to the ground. Harry moved forward, going for a kick, careful not to break the Eye and unleash something even more damning than the original Shredder onto the world, but Voldemort deflect it. Concentrating, as the first patronus had failed and the second one was well on its way to fading out of existence as well. He aimed the wand at Voldemort and managed to blast him backwards with a raw blast of magic, while wandlessly summoning the Eye of Darkness.

Voldemort angrily saw the Eye of Darkness slip out of his hands, he would not let Potter win this easily. He prepared to summon it back and the two wizards both attempting to summon the artifact that controlled the Dementors had caused the magical equivalent of a tug of war.

"LET GO RIDDLE!" shouted Harry as he saw magic begin to leak out of the Eye of Darkness

"Never Potter," responded Voldemort as the struggle for the Eye had continued, both wizards not letting up on the summoning charm, until a loud crack echoed as the Eye of Darkness shattered in mid air right below them, the dust that was once the Eye of Darkness flickered to the ground. Harry turned to the Dementors, as their robes began to tear, their primitive forms fading away. Hundreds of figures with blood red eyes, brown skin, razor sharp claws, and spiked backs turned to face Voldemort. "What are you waiting for, destroy Potter!"

"We are waiting for our master," growled one of the demons.

"And your wait shall not be long," voiced an imposing figure, with shoulder length silver hair and ice cold blue eyes looking at Voldemort with contempt, before he turned to his followers, all that had bowed down to the ground. "Rise my children, this world will be ours this time."

Draxxor had been freed from his prison.


	39. Chapter 39: Powers Dark Part One

**Chapter Thirty Nine: Powers Dark Part One:**

Draxxor looked forward with a triumphant expression etched on his face, as his legions of demons stood, awaiting word from their master. Voldemort stood, surveying the situation, and Harry was as well. The next stage of the prophecy had been enacted, as the fragmented dust that was once the Eye of Darkness. The hallway was cold and depressing, an environment that Harry wished he could escape, but for some reason he could not. Draxxor turned slightly, as the demons looked forward with hungry looks in their eyes.

"So you were the one who had told me to do this," said Wormtail as he walked forward and Voldemort was enraged, he would kill Wormtail. He took two steps forward, but he began suddenly paralyzed, unable to move his own feet, as Wormtail stood, with an arrogant expression on his face, that was so unlike the cowardly swine that Voldemort had thought he knew. "Yes, my Lord, I betrayed you and I must say you did not expect a thing. I guess that was about as much as you could expect from a filthy half blood such as yourself."

"You have done well Wormtail, the Eye of Darkness could not have been obliterated without you putting the idea in his head," said Draxxor and Wormtail looked pleased with his achievements. Harry stood back, not wanting to draw attention to himself, but the overwhelming need to rip Wormtail's head off of his shoulders due to the evil he unleashed on the world. The prophecy was all too well in Harry's mind and despite all the preparation, preparing and actually fighting someone the caliber of Draxxor was two different things entirely. "As it has been said before, you were destined to be great, Wormtail."

"Absolutely, I deserve power," said Wormtail greedily and Harry was disgusted that his parents once considered this man their friend. He was nothing but a power obsessive madman. "So, now I want the tools for the greatness you and others have said that I deserve, unless your power is a lie. You said you had the ability to gain me what I desire and I helped you out of your prison, so now it's my turn to reap the rewards."

The army of demons looked angered at what they perceived as an insult to their master, but Draxxor just waved his hand, prompting them to remain silent as Wormtail stepped forward.

"Very well, as you wish, if you really think you are worthy, unlimited power and ultimate knowledge of all magic," said Draxxor and Wormtail nodded, as he stepped forward, greedily, as Draxxor stuck out his hand, placing it on Wormtail's forehead, muttering under his breath in some language that neither Harry nor Voldemort could even begin to understand. Strands of silver light erupted from Draxxor's hand right through into Wormtail's mind, body, and soul. Wormtail stepped back, his body glowing and for a few seconds, he felt a wave of power course through him, but as soon as this happened, his body began to heat up to hot temperatures, before it burst into black flames. Wormtail shrieked as his mind collapsed, his body melted, and his soul ripped from its body, before it flew right into the hand of Draxxor, who nodded, and turned to his followers. "The thing about ultimate power is that mortals are not well equipped to handle it, they fall apart."

Harry watched in horror as Draxxor put Wormtail's soul up to his lips, before he slowly sucked it right into his mouth. A few echoed yells, but for the most part, Wormtail's essence was slowly devoured by Draxxor.

"A bit underwhelming, but given that I have not devoured a soul in a thousand years, it was a welcome delicacy," said Draxxor which prompted the legions of demons to laugh, their cold rattling breath filling the hallway. "Now with that minor annoyance out of the way, we can get onto the next stage of my plan."

He removed the spells keeping Voldemort and Harry in place, knowing that they would be foolish enough to challenge his power, but welcomed a chance to show his power.

"My rebirth has happened tonight, thanks to the heir of Salazar Slytherin destroying the same artifact that Slytherin had imprisoned me in, with help with this meddlesome child," said Draxxor coldly as he turned to Harry. "The power of two was enough to crack the enchantments and thus return me to my supreme form. And in this supreme form, this world will be mine and I will not be denied. Centuries trapped in that tomb and then having to use a human body as my vessel to set up this great victory has given me time to think and I want the line of Slytherin stamped out completely. Destroy Tom Marvolo Riddle now!"

Voldemort withdrew his wand and sent jets of black fire out, towards the demons, who rushed forward. Harry was knocked to the side, it was almost like Draxxor was not concerned with him. Several of the demons dove at Voldemort but Voldemort twisted into a shadow, before he came from behind the demons and whipped his wand, just barely backing the demons off against the wall. More of Draxxor's followers moved forward, but Voldemort ducked and swerved around the attacks. One of the demons was flung against the wall, but Voldemort was gripped by the arms, the claws sinking in Voldemort's arms. Voldemort sent a blast of black light towards his attackers, forcing the demon to back off. The demons swarmed around, diving towards Voldemort.

"Take him out, use anything you need to," said Draxxor, as Harry pulled himself up, as Voldemort continued to deflect several of the attacks. The Dark Lord would not allow himself to be defeated by creatures. "Keep struggling Riddle, you may be a powerful wizard, but you are only just mortal no matter how many times you split your soul and I am your better."

Voldemort wrapped thick cords around one of his demon opponents before he flung him over to the side. Another demon was impacted, but more kept coming, faster than Voldemort could fight. Voldemort threw a few more dark curses to keep them off balance, as Harry stood out of the way, surveying the situation closely. Voldemort blasted several of the demons out of the way and rushed forward, before he shot a jet of grey light right at Draxxor, but Draxxor just calmly caught the spell and crushed the light in his hand, before he raised his hands. Voldemort was blasted by a jet of gold light, right into the waiting arms of the demons, who began blasting him with several spells in the back. He turned around, continuing to fight, but several black rings appeared around the Dark Lord. Voldemort's legs began to buckle, as his wand fell to the ground, he was unable to fight back, as Draxxor moved forward, the hallway filling with cool air as Voldemort stood, attempting to get out, before he mentally activated the dark mark on his Death Eaters, hoping to summon any that might have still be awake.

"A futile gambit, Tom," remarked Draxxor. "You have fought sufficiently well but know that my power will not be defeated by the likes of you. You are the one obstacle that stands between me and my plans for this world."

Voldemort stood, his arms and legs trapped, as Draxxor advanced on him, but at that moment, a blast of orange light flew out of nowhere. It struck Draxxor in the back, not injuring him but just getting his attention, as Harry moved into, leaping up, and blasting several attacks down on the demons, before kicking them in the face. It just barely worked, as the demons just backed off, before advancing on Harry, who held the wand out in front of him, attempting to summon happy memories to mind, despite the haze of coldness and despair that the demons were inspiring. He only had one chance, while Draxxor and his minions were distracted with dealing with Voldemort.

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" yelled Harry and a large raven burst out, but Draxxor just lifted one of his fingers up, before he flicked it towards the patronus. The patronus turned into pure dark magic energy, growing many times its normal size. The Patronus gave a loud sinister caw, before the raven turned its attention to Harry, before it dove right towards the wizard. Harry attempted to cancel the spell, but the raven chased him around the hallway, as the demons looked amused, as Voldemort used this distraction in an attempt to free himself from his bonds, but whatever spell that demon had put on him was rather foolproof. Harry ducked and dodged the attacks, as the anti-Patronus from above appeared to feed on Harry's frustration and despair, as Draxxor turned his attention to Voldemort, staring down the Dark Lord who stared right back at Draxxor with complete contempt.

"Now that Potter has been taken care of I can turn my attention to eliminate the only minor annoyance that may pose a problem to my plans," said Draxxor as his demons moved over, before bowing down to their master. Thanks to their breeding in those primitive forms, his army had expanded infinitely and would allow him to overrun this world, but this time, it would be done on his own terms. "Now, all of you had been forced to bend down to the whims of the Ministry, to guard their pitiful prisoners, without allowing to feast upon humanity as you please. Even the so called Dark Lord only used your abilities as soon as he could but this time, we will rule all, have all in this world. Our dominance will be assured and our power will not be denied this time."

The demons cheered, as Harry continued to fight his possessed patronus in the distance. Just coming near it had caused Harry to become rather weak and light headed, as it seemed to bring negative memories to the forefront. Draxxor spared Harry and his dark magic influenced opponent a very brief glance, before he turned to his legions of followers and the captive form of Voldemort, who was getting more angered at the moment with Draxxor having found a way to contain him. Voldemort thought he had burst through, but the bonds remained steady and thus, Draxxor turned to Voldemort.

"Now, that you're here Tom, let me make one promise, never again will a foolish mortal defeat me, a thousand years ago, your ancestor and his fellow founders worked to imprison me, but they did not have the power to destroy me," said Draxxor coldly, as he looked at Voldemort with his ice cold blue eyes. "The only reason he could defeat me was that blasted sword, the blade of Slytherin. I had hoped to use Potter to retrieve the Sword of Gryffindor from the hat, the only thing that would be able to find and destroy the blade, but I was disappointed when he could not pull it from the hat. My theory that he was the heir of Gryffindor had been mistaken and thus he would not retrieve my weapon."

Harry continued to fight the anti-patronus, as he strained to listen to everything that happened around him. He had suspected that Draxxor, under the guise of Albus Dumbledore, was up to something when he asked him if he had retrieved any weapons from the hat during his second year. However, Harry had known by that time not to trust Dumbledore with anything and that distrust was intelligent, as had Harry handed over Slytherin's Blade, Dumbledore would have had it destroyed immediately. Now, if he was correct, the blade would be the only thing that might have a hope of defeating Draxxor. If so, Harry needed to find a way to discretely get to the Slytherin library and collect the blade so he could properly slay the demon once and for all. The anti-Patronus dove, as it brushed against Harry, it caused him intense pain, but Draxxor seemed to have his full and undivided attention turned to Voldemort.

"Still, Voldemort, I had nurtured a curiosity within you about your heritage, once I had declined to give you any vital information once I had exposed you to this world," said Draxxor and Voldemort seemed to be mentally putting all the pieces together, it should have been so obvious, as his hatred for the demon lord intensified. "Yes, Voldemort, I managed to trick Dumbledore into allowing me access to his body. I used his form to prepare this world for mine. Laws passed through the Ministry, that I began to pass in time thanks to my influence of defeating that weak fool Gridelwald. Laws that imposed certain restrictions on what the students on this school could learn. Most were content with following the great Albus Dumbledore, the light families had their children conditioned to see him as nothing but the good in the world. Now the trouble came when those that did not live their lives inside our world were not conditioned and shook the landscape of what I had attempted to achieve. I managed to weather each and every one of these storms, but you had always been a complex one, Tom. I wanted to crush you underneath my foot and I could have before you had achieved the power you did. Yet, I was constantly intrigued of how far you would get but you got further than you should have. You had embraced your ancestor's somewhat fragmented heritage and had gone out to achieve what you thought his ambition was by any means necessary. Before too long, even I could not stop you without arising too many annoying questions."

Draxxor paused, as Voldemort thought he had broken free, but it was just the demon lord toying with him, as the bonds around him had tightened. Even as someone who had traveled the world, this was dark magic the likes of which that even Voldemort had not seen. It was very difficult to formulate an escape plan against something so strange and foreign to even one of the most powerful dark wizards that ever lived.

"Magic that you have never seen before or you will ever see again," taunted Draxxor, amusing himself for a few seconds, watching Harry attempt to fight off the rogue Patronus, but the Patronus had just seemed to absorb Harry's attack, before moving back on his attack.

"I will find a way out of you and destroy you, demon," hissed Voldemort in his most dangerous voice, which caused Draxxor to merely respond with a bored yawn, as he walked over, bending own, and staring down in Voldemort's snake face, looking into his slit like red eyes.

"As if you could even get close enough, Tom," said Draxxor in a bored voice. "Now, your curiosity had continued to be bred through the lack of information, you found about your infamous ancestor and buried Tom Marvolo Riddle deep, to give way to Lord Voldemort. No matter what, you are still a loathsome child who is obsessed with getting his hands on all knowledge and I will give you this, you have acquired more of it than most. You found the locket, one of your ancestor's greatest treasures. The Chamber of Secrets was accessible for one with the right power and motivation and you found that. So, I do not have any reason to doubt that you found Slytherin's greatest treasure, the one that managed to have a roll in containing my soul in primitive structures for a millennium. The Eye of Darkness is but a mere byproduct of this weapon, a weapon that I shall annihilate, thus eliminating any chance of my defeat."

Voldemort stood, as Draxxor advanced on him, almost expecting Voldemort to tell him immediately. In his arrogance and his power, Draxxor had expected all to bow down to him, even the descendents of the one that trapped him all those years ago. As Voldemort remained silent, Draxxor seemed to take it as an insult to his power. His followers also were angered, their bodies enveloping with solid dark magic, as Draxxor turned, looking at Voldemort. Voldemort was not intimidated easily, but he required a distraction in the form of his Death Eaters. For some reason, they were not being all that responsive to his urgent mental prodding to activate their dark marks.

"Infernal human cockroach, I was going to grant you a quick and painless demise, but now that you were going to be so difficult, I am going to pry the location of Slytherin's Blade out of your weak, mortal mind," said Draxxor. "One last chance to tell me the location of the Blade, before I force it out of you."

Voldemort recalled something about seeing the Slytherin's Blade, but some unseen force appeared to be preventing Voldemort from recollecting these thoughts in his mind. Draxxor swooped down, a malignant glare in his eyes, ignoring yet another futile attempt from Harry to defeat his opponent behind Draxxor's back.. Once Voldemort refused to say one word, Draxxor quickly projected all of his power into the mind of the Dark Lord. Loud screams echoed from Voldemort, as Draxxor brutally forced himself into the his mind. No matter how advanced his Occlumency was, Draxxor had pulverized right through each and every one of the Dark Lord's well placed defenses. Voldemort saw memory after memory flash by at a rapid rate, many that he had long since forgotten about, mostly from his days at that wretched Muggle orphanage. Memory after memory flashed by, as Draxxor dug through Voldemort's mind, not caring what damage he caused, as he delved into deepest darkest area of Voldemort's subconscious. He watched, with some sort of perverse desire to see Voldemort squirm, as he was remained bond by the black energy rings.

"You can struggle all you wish, Tom, but I will pull it from your mind, you feared Dumbledore, you will be petrified of Draxxor by the time I am finished with you," said Draxxor wickedly, as he forced his way deeper and deeper, as his mind processed more memories from Voldemort. It was getting bothersome, Draxxor had found hints that Voldemort knew of Slytherin's Blade, but not that he had ever seen, much less found the blade. Perhaps it was beneath Voldemort's notice to use Muggle weaponry, no matter how magic they were, but his attempts to gain ninjitsu abilities just to defeat Potter had been brought to Draxxor's attention, so he dismissed that notion almost immediately. Draxxor began to assault Voldemort's mind at full power, as his followers even were intimidated by the dark power that the demon lord was exhibiting. Draxxor pushed his way towards Voldemort's mind.

Harry continued to fight the demonic entity that was once his patronus. Only through shill force of will he had not collapsed yet. Harry was pinned against the wall, a shield just barely preventing his former Patronus from getting through. He knew would happen if Draxxor had discovered that Harry had used Slytherin's Blade against Voldemort in the graveyard during his fourth year. Draxxor would turn his attention to Harry, instead of just allowing Harry's demise to be left to chance. In fact, Draxxor, Dumbledore, had always only regarded Harry as a pawn, to manipulate him as a weapon against his true target, Voldemort. Draxxor never imagined Harry as an enemy, even after Harry had managed to unravel so many of the demon's well placed plans, the full attention was turned to Voldemort. In fact, this just proved that Draxxor had only heard enough of the prophecy to not be given any indication that Harry was also a heir of Slytherin. The dark magic raven swooped down at Harry, but Harry dodged. He wondered if he should conjure another Patronus, but he pushed the idea out of his mind. There was too much of a chance that the Patronus would just absorb the power. In fact, Harry might as well have had to try to reverse the magical tampering on the Patronus.

"It's not here," said Draxxor, as he allowed Voldemort to slump to the ground, his head pounding from the assault Draxxor delivered on his mind. His demons looked on, waiting the next move. "Riddle knows of, but I have read all of his memories and nothing here indicates that he has ever had Slytherin's Blade in his possession."

The demons remained silent, as Harry waited with baited breath, as he attempted to concentrate on purging the Patronus of dark magic properties. A rare and complicated Arithmancy formula came to mind. Harry had excelled at this subject, but actually applying the properties magically to what Draxxor did was going to be a chore, due to the chaotic nature of demon spell casting. Still, Harry had no other hope, as he felt absolutely fatigued, fighting through what was basically a really bad case of the flu but much to his surprise, the Patronus had lightened slightly. Harry felt a little more hopeful, as the constant battering of hopelessness slowly began to fade. The attacks let up but several new arrivals had caused Harry to continue the process without Draxxor.

"My Lord, we or rather all of us that weren't knocked out by Potter's little group, just managed to get up here, we barricaded them downstairs," said a rather dim looking Death Eater, his mask half off.

"GET THEM!" shouted Voldemort and the Death Eaters moved forward, murderous glares on their faces but they felt less brave when they saw the sharp claws of the demons. If he had not been finding a way to escape, Voldemort would have noticed the anemic number of Death Eaters that had answered his call and in fact, some of his best wands were missing.

"Annihilate those meddlesome mortals," countered Draxxor, as the demons rushed forward, grabbing one of the Death Eaters and ripping his claws into the chest of the Death Eaters. Dark spells blasted into the air, but they were nothing compared to the magic that Draxxor's followers could perform. The magic had caused great pain and hopelessness, and many of the Death Eaters were shown the true limited nature of their power, as Draxxor turned his attention away from Voldemort, pointing his hands towards the Death Eaters. The Death Eaters were forced backwards, but Voldemort had finally broke out of his bindings, taking advantage of a brief lapse of Draxxor's concentration. Collapsing to the ground, Voldemort saw his wand on the ground off to the side. His followers were being trashed by the demons, and that infernal demon had done something to his magic. When it returned, Voldemort reasoned that he would have to make a strategic retreat.

Harry had just managed to completely eliminate Draxxor's magic from his Patronus. The raven was above him, as it shrank back to its normal sized and turned silvery. Sighing, Harry had cancelled the Patronus spell, as the battle between the Death Eaters and Draxxor's demons raged on. With any luck, they would weaken the forces slightly. Harry crouched behind the statue, out of the view of Draxxor, before he removed his mirror from his pocket.

"Ginny," said Harry and Ginny's face appeared on the other end of the mirror.

"Harry, where are you?" asked Ginny. "The Marauder's Map is becoming all blurry, I can't make anything out on that, and the Death Eaters have barricade the stairs, none of us can break through, they put some powerful dark magic. Even with all of us, we can't get through.

"Ginny, get out of here now," said Harry suddenly and Ginny did a double take. "All of you need to leave, Draxxor he's back, the floor I'm on is swarmed with demons, they are polishing Riddle's followers off right now and Voldemort is not faring all that well as well. I need you to get to the nearest exit, don't worry about anyone else, just tell everyone to get out."

"Demons, they're here!" cried Ginny in a horrified voice, her eyes widened, as Harry could hear gasps behind her. "Harry…"

"I know, but I'll find a way out of here, I'm working on a plan right now, Draxxor hasn't bothered much with me yet, he doesn't even know," said Harry quickly, seeing the look on Ginny's face, she looked like she very much wanted to argue this matter in detail, but Harry's urgency had stalled her. "Please leave, before the demons move out into the school. Without a plan we have no chance and…"

"I understand Harry," said Ginny quietly, looking at him with helplessness, she looked rather scared and judging by Harry's tone of his voice, whatever plan he did have was rapidly crumbling to dust. "Please find a way out of there soon, love."

"I will, Ginny," said Harry shakily with a sigh as Ginny's face disappeared from the mirror, as he wondered if he would ever see her or anyone else that he cared about ever again. He saw the Death Eaters begin to lose their footing and Voldemort had abandoned everything, as he quickly walked off. Harry had saw the Portus-Amulet about Voldemort's neck, the amulet that Voldemort had stole and his ticket out of here, if Harry could only get it away from Voldemort.

"Loathsome," said Draxxor in a bored tone of voice, as over half of the Death Eaters that had answered Voldemort's call ended up right in front of Draxxor, paralyzed, unable to perform magic. Draxxor raised his arms, as a rumbling began to echo throughout Hogwarts, before most of the Death Eaters began to glow a vibrant shade of orange. Harry could feel this was going to cause a powerful backlash of magic, so he dropped down, before he placed an extremely powerful shield around him. He concentrated hard, hoping that his shield could absorb a good portion of the blast, as Draxxor spread his arms out, before the Death Eaters caught in the path were caught in a wave of orange light and began to get shredded into pieces before they disappeared into mid air.

From below, Ginny looked up. She still had the Marauder's Map in her hand, it was still fuzzy and she was unable to read anything on the map. She had to double check and make sure everyone stood before her, the hard way.

"Draxxor's above!" shouted Ginny over the sudden sound of explosions from above, and the others looked grave, having been filled in on just the basic details from Harry, Ginny, and Lily, but mostly everyone knew enough to be concerned. "Now, Harry's given be explicit instructions to make sure of all you get out of here in one piece. We need to do so, Harry was adamant, he said he'll find a way out of here and…we have to trust him."

"Wait a minute, we're just getting in here and Harry wants us to just leave like that," argued Ron but Ginny just looked at her brother, with an irritated expression.

"It's not the most logical thing to do, but it's more logical than fighting an extremely powerful army of demons before we're fully prepared," said Ginny as another explosion echoed from above, as an aura of hopelessness seeped down the stairs.

"Yes, Ginny and Harry are both right, we need to regroup, before Draxxor breaks open the school and kills us all," said Lily urgently and they moved forward, most of the students had been moved out of the school whenever possible by the Aurors, but there were many students unaccounted for, not to mention a handful of Death Eaters that slipped off during various points of the battle.

Above, Draxxor stood, as Harry relaxed his shield, as an unaffected Voldemort stood back, obviously having mustered a defense to block him from the wrath. Draxxor stepped forward and Harry made his move, rushing his way forward. He blew up the ceiling from above him, which even slowed the demons down, but they quickly blasted their way out the structure. Landing on his feet with a somersault, Harry made a movement to grab his Portus-Amulet, the one that Voldemort stole off of the Dark Lord's neck. Quickly, Voldemort blocked his hand, and they circled each other, but Voldemort managed to catch Harry off guard, before quickly knocking him at the feet of his demons. Quickly, Voldemort tapped his wand to the Portus-Amulet and Draxxor gave an anguished scream, as the heir of his hated enemy vanished from Hogwarts without the trace. The demon turned, his features becoming more ugly and demonic, if that was possible, as he looked at Harry, who pulled himself up to his feet.

"Potter, you have ruined everything for the last time, this was supposed to my grand victory, to finally wipe out the Slytherin line," said Draxxor, as he blasted Harry. For a few brief seconds, Harry thought this was the end but a stasis field wrapped around him. While Harry could think, feel, hear, and see, he could not move despite his best intentions. "That weak minded uncle of yours abandoned you, you gained that sense of independence, that ruined everything. Of course, I could hardly blame you, your mother never did fully trust Dumbledore and thus your inadequacies are genetic. Year after year, I watch, you rise beyond everything, it's almost uncanny how your existence somewhat parallels Riddle's, but you would never allow yourself to go as far as you need to and that's why you are not considered to be a threat. Rather, you are merely an annoyance."

Draxxor just stood, he would have loved to plunge in Potter's mind, learn all that he knew, but he would not have been able to stand being in his mind for more than a few seconds due to that accursed bond. That was why he had done everything in his power to get the Weasley girl eliminated at first, but once the bond got past second stage, it would have destroyed Potter. Draxxor was still holding out hope that he could still manipulate Potter, perhaps by getting his adopted family captured by a government facility and having them dissected. Still it did not matter at all at the end of the day, as the world would be his.

"I could have destroyed you at any time but I actually thought you would be useful to campaign, sadly, you had discovered independence beyond the status quo of this wilting world," said Draxxor savagely, as if mere sight of Harry had sickened him to his very stomach and the feeling was quite mutual. "Even as we stand, I could rip your body apart and devour your soul as simply as that tedious exercise you mortals call breathing."

The demons stood ready, excited for the rare pleasure of their master tearing a human to pieces and then devouring their soul. It was truly the only entertainment they acknowledge.

"But nothing can distract me from my plans for this world," amended Draxxor as he stared Harry down, before he let him drop to the ground. Harry landed with a crash, as the ground beneath the Boy-Who-Lived began to crumble. There was no way Harry could escape his fate in time, as the ground collapsed and Harry fell through the floor, as Draxxor watched the wizard fall. Whether he lived or not did not matter, but the demon knew that he had dealt some kind of blow to Potter. He turned to his minions, who waited for their master's orders. "Any mortals in this school, cast them out. Do not kill them, there will be plenty of time for that later, no need to waste any power. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Master Draxxor," droned the demons, their rattling cold breath filling the corridor as a grey cloud began to envelope the school.

Harry laid face down on the ground, surrounded by rubble. A particular large piece was on his right arm, bent out to the funny angle. Harry winced, as he moved the rubble off of his broken arm. He saw his mirror counterpart's wand off to the side, snapped in half from the impact, whistling. Harry crawled over, trying to see if he could salvage the pieces, but he knew that there was no way to do so.

A humming sound echoed and Harry looked up to see a grey cloud swept through the hallways right towards him. Desperately, he tried to put up a shield charm, but the cloud swooped right through his shield. In an instant, Harry faded from the school, disappearing from sight.

Harry dropped off, right by his friends and family, along with several unconscious Death Eaters and students, outside the Hogwarts gates. They all rushed over, asking Harry if he was alright, in concern.

"Physically I'm fine, just a broken wrist and a shattered wand, nothing major," said Harry quickly, before he looked up at Hogwarts, before stepping back, eyes widened, as he saw the transformation that had been going on around the school. "Emotionally is another matter entirely."

The school had been surrounded by thick fought, that gave off a hopeless aura. Dark magic swirled in the red skies behind Hogwarts. Harry watched, remembering how the demon Shredder had been a handful, but Draxxor may have exhibited more power than the Tengu. Hogwarts was slowly being put under the demon's spell and Harry watched. What was normally an inviting place had slowly turned into something more sinister, with the hopeless aura surrounding it.

Inside the school, the demons turned to face Draxxor, who looked at them coolly.

"All mortals have been cast out, Hogwarts is yours, Master Draxxor," reported one of the demons.

"It always has been," said Draxxor softly, the most powerful resource of magic in this mortal world fallen into his hands and the means to drain it of everything as well. The world had gotten a reprieve of over a thousand years, but now Draxxor was ready to continue where he had left off before the founders had managed to clumsily fall into a setback for Draxxor. All will be devoured by Draxxor and his legion of demons, until Earth was left nothing but a cold, barren, rock.


	40. Chapter 40: Powers Dark Part Two

**Chapter Forty: Powers Dark Part Two: **

The mist around Hogwarts continued to rise around Hogwarts, as Harry looked inside. For some reason, Draxxor had everyone removed from the school, instead of outright killing them. But why? Harry was at a loss to even determine that. He stood, as close as he could to the gates, as the grass on the grounds wilted and died, as the leaves of the trees fell to the ground before crumbling into dust. Hogwarts had just turned into a lifeless wasteland, no hope, no chance for a life, basically the most depressing place on earth. Harry stood, right by Ginny, as he looked up. Any chance he had to defeat Draxxor was rather suspect to begin with, he had hoped that he would avoid that part of the prophecy, but the Eye of Darkness shattered and set off the rebirth of the demon lord, along with his vile minions. Harry watched as his friends and family looked, waiting for word, Harry had always had the answers but now he felt he had nothing. He felt he had let everyone down and maybe the entire Wizarding World.

"Okay, we have to do something, but the fact is, I don't know exactly what Draxxor's done to the school, there is a heavy amount of chaotic dark magic in the air," said Harry. "I need to get inside the school, because Salazar's Blade may be the only way to finish Draxxor."

"Exactly how are we going to do that, Harry?" asked Hailey. "I mean, if they cast us out like that, they're not going to let us back in easily."

"Then, we'll force our way in," said Raph roughly but Master Splinter shook his head.

"No, there is a strong likelihood that Draxxor has the entire school surrounded, he'll be looking for force and will react as such," said Master Splinter logically as he leaned on his walking stick, looking up towards the school. "We must approach this matter logically, find a way inside the school, around what Draxxor has done to it."

"I agree, there are many ways inside and Draxxor most likely knows most of them," said Harry. "If I can get to the defenses the Founders put inside the school, I will be able to maybe loosen Draxxor's hold on the school It's going to take a bit of careful planning, certain things need to go down exactly at the right times. I don't know how much time I can buy us, but it should be enough to get back into the school, to get my hands on the weapon at least."

Harry paused, before he stood, turning to the others, quickly going over the school in his mind. He wished he could do it alone, but he needed help so he turned to the group.

"The rest of you stay here, keep me posted through the mirrors if you see anything from the outside, but Mum, Ginny, can I count on you two to help me get this done?" asked Harry.

"Of course, Harry, you didn't really need to ask that," said Ginny.

"Yes, Harry, what do you need us to do?" asked Lily.

"I think you're up to this, at least I hope," said Harry. "No time, you might not even need to help me, but the magic around Hogwarts is unpredictable, it will take more than one person to stabilize the wards so it will be easier to slip inside. Exactly how much time this will take, I don't know…"

"It doesn't matter, we need to find a way to loosen his hold on the school," responded Ginny, firmly, as she put her hand on Harry's arm, comforting his fears. "The three of us should be enough to at least do that, more than enough."

"Okay, let's go," said Harry calmly, as Ginny and Lily followed him. The three moved there way, as everyone waited and watched, as Harry managed to pry the gate open. Harry stepped forward, with Ginny and Lily moving, wands raised, as Harry looked around, before moving onto the grounds. He tried to block out the feelings of despair that were being inspired by just being on the Hogwarts grounds. Struggling, Harry brushed aside the fog, before he turned to the side. "I should have been able to banish them from the school, if I can only take control of the protections."

"In other words, Draxxor's blocked you out," said Lily in a low voice, and Harry looked around, it did appear that way, but Harry did not think that Draxxor was directed him.

"Not me particular no, but the heirs of the school in general," said Harry calmly, as they moved forward, Harry attempted to concentrate on the magic swirling around the area inside the school. It was unlike anything Harry had ever experienced. He could not remove it, but he would have to work around it. They continued their journey towards the side of the school. With any luck, they would be able to get in through the school inside a little known secret passage that would just take them inside the Great Hall. From inside, it would be a lot easier to figure out what Draxxor had done and loosen his hold on it, to allow the others in, giving Harry enough of a distraction to get to the Slytherin library and get the blade of the sword.

Draxxor stood inside Hogwarts, returning to his former office that he spent much of his life in, as Dumbledore. Several of the paintings of past headmasters and head mistresses gazed at Draxxor with contempt, but Draxxor just ignored their dark mutterings. He scanned the office, for anything of Riddle's that might be of value, but found nothing. It did not matter, with the crystals in position, and his followers going to the Ministry to retrieve an important item for his plans. One of the instruments on the desk began to rattle. Due to the high concentration of magic in the air, the instruments were extremely sensitive, to any more magical individuals walking onto the ground. Draxxor turned to the instrument, his lips contorting with irritation, as he tapped his fingers on it. The instrument quickly sought out the people on the crowd and a three dimensional holographic image of the forms of Lily, Ginny, and Harry appeared. Draxxor stood, in irritation of three individuals who have meddled in his plans far too often for the demon's liking.

"So, you three think you can break inside my school and disrupt my plans," said Draxxor, as his cold blue eyes rested on his three enemies. "I don't think that will be in the plans for today, I will make you pay. Killing you will not be enough."

Draxxor walked forward, the door swinging open on its on accord. The demon lord made his way up the hallway, as many of his followers lounged around the hallway.

"What is your will, Master Draxxor?" rattled one of the demons calmly, but Draxxor placed the holographic images of Lily, Harry, and Ginny fighting through the mist, as they made their way further towards Hogwarts. It was obvious what entrance they were heading for as well as the demons looked absolutely offended that these three would dare defy their master.

"They must not find their way into this school and there is only one way that we can stall them long enough until our plans are fully executed," said Draxxor roughly, as he looked at his captive followers. "If they are killed in the effort, then so be it, but I want their minds destroyed, their lives ruined, their sanity gone. I want them completely finished off, once and for all, do you understand?"

"Absolutely, Master Draxxor," droned the demons in unison, as they rose in excitement waiting for the next word from their master and Draxxor stood, grinning, as he knew what would come next. He wished he would have been able accomplish years ago, but using Dumbledore's body, he could not exert enough physical power to make his enemies properly pay for their defiance.

"We must act quickly, they will have found a way into the school and even if they are in for a few seconds, there is always a chance that our plans can be destabilized," said Draxxor coldly, and the demons nodded, wondering what torture their demon lord would have in mind for the meddlers. "So, join me my children, as we will activate the Dome of the Damned and force them to fight their worse fears."

The demons stood rigid, scared of this horror, an invention of their demon lord. Draxxor had invented this to torture demons that had not joined his cause fully. It was something that broke them within hours, leaving them absolutely and completely mindless. No demon had survived it but there had never been an opportunity to use this horror on a mortal. Now seemed like as good of a time as to try it out, as Draxxor moved outwards, as his minions joined him. About two dozen demons stood in a circle, muttering under their breath, as they projected their powers outwards past the walls of the school. They focused on the forms of Lily Potter, Ginny Weasley, and Harry Potter, attempting to divert the destructive properties of the dome towards their three targets.

Back on the ground, Harry looked around, a loud gust of wind could be filled, it appeared in the grounds. A large black cyclone erupted right from the walls of Hogwarts. Harry attempted to push it back, but it was way too much, even for his advanced mystic abilities. Ginny and Lily joined Harry in fighting every spell they could, in an attempt to deflect the magic around them, but it was useless. The cyclone aimed right towards them.

"I can't move my legs!" shouted Ginny suddenly, as the magical attack seemed to hold her in place.

"You aren't the only one, Ginny, I can't either!" yelled Lily as she tried to desperately lift her legs, but found this to be an impossible endeavor and Harry nodded, just as the cyclone slammed them, before it expanded outwards in a dome shape. This was the last thing that registered in any of their mind's before they went into a blank haze, as the dome surrounded them on a significant portion of the grounds, trapping all three of them.

Outside the gates, everyone watched, as Lily, Ginny, and Harry stood immobile, as the dome deepened in the sinister black shade, obscuring all three of them from view of the people outside. Hailey stepped forward, and grabbed the gate, but she was blasted backwards, landing right to the ground.

"What did he do them?" asked Sirius as he looked around as Lily, Ginny, and Harry were just barely visible inside the dome.. "They're just standing there…"

"We need to get in there," interrupted Ron, but Hailey shook her head.

"No, if we wanted to, we can't, Draxxor's discovered that someone got onto the grounds, so he's blocked anyone else out, it's hopeless," said Hailey, as the fog swirled around the outside of the dome. "Maybe if we found a way around, but no one knows the school better than Harry, so if anyone would have founded someway around that entire mess, it would have been him."

"Hailey's right," said Neville but he looked as urgent as everyone else, as he watched them disappear from view. "It's kind of hard to save them, but we can't really see them."

"Yes, it is," added Hermione but suddenly, something hit Hermione in a burst of inspiration, she kicked herself, why hadn't she thought of it earlier, she wondered. "But, they do have the mirrors, maybe if one of us called them, we can get to them, Harry did say that we were supposed to keep our eyes out for anything strange outside the grounds. If we get through, we can help them escape from whatever that monstrosity is."

"You know, that just might work," agreed Leo thoughtfully and the others also nodded in agreement. Hailey had removed the mirror, hoping for something that was beyond that it work, they would be able to break through whatever enchantments that Draxxor had. If she could get through to even one of them, it would help them escape.

"Harry, please, if you can hear me in any way, this is your sister, please answer!" shouted Hailey desperately, but the mirror remained blank and dark, there was no indication if Hailey's communication was even getting through. Hailey waited for what seemed like an eternity before she sighed and tried a different tact. "Okay, Mum, if you're there, please pick up, please answer me. This is Hailey, just say something if you can hear me at all."

No response. Not even a failed attempt to maintain communications. Much like Harry's mirror, Hailey found her mother's to be completely blank. In frustration, Hailey sighed, looking rather irritated. She hoped that she could get through to Ginny in time, as she held up the mirror, gazing at it through her vivid emerald green eyes.

"Ginny, are you there? Answer me please, this is Hailey, if you can hear this, answer," said Hailey, as she looked at the mirror. The others looked, there faces growing rather grim once they realized that Hailey's last attempt to reach the outside was in vain. Hailey looked frustrated. "Nothing, I failed, Harry would have found a way to get through…"

"You did the best you could," said Luna calmly and Hailey knew Luna was being supportive, but the thing was that her best was nowhere near enough to do Harry, Ginny, and her mother any good. The others looked at Hailey, trying to convey without words that it was not her fault. Deep down, Hailey agreed that it was not, but the fog seeping outside the Hogwarts gates had made it rather difficult for her to have any positive thoughts and emotions. They stood, almost looking on one side of an unbreakable glass, as the black dome was around where they had last seen Harry, Ginny, and Lily stand.

Draxxor stood, as the dome reached maximum strength, as his followers had brought a large box towards him. From the inside, something rattled against the box.

"We have found three of them inside the castle, Master Draxxor," responded one of the demons.

"Excellent, the dome's power amplifies the deepest darkest fears and insecurities in their mind, but I had left too much to chance in the past, especially with these three," said Draxxor, as he stood up, his full height, his stone carved face showing no humor whatsoever, as he leaned forward, before he placed a finger on the box. The rattling from inside did not cease, but rather it just got more violent, as it was surrounded by a red glow. "This should be more than sufficient to keep them from finding a way out of the dome, until we've prepared the ritual. Place them inside the dome, but do not disrupt the magic within it, it will cause everything to collapse and may ruin my hold on Hogwarts."

The demon nodded, as he took the rumbling crate off, he would not disappoint his master. He walked off, seeing the dome outside. A small imperfection in the creation of the dome would allow the perfect vessel to transport the enhanced creatures inside the doom. The box floated inside the dome, as it began to shake, busting open only a second after it passed the outside of the dome.

"It is a success master," reported the demon and Draxxor's grin widened, but he then adopted a cold, indifferent approach, as his followers would be return to the Ministry shortly, they might have been on their way back right now. Soon, his plans for the world would come to pass.

Harry rubbed his forehead, as he felt dizzy. He could not remember what had happened, in fact, the last thing he remembered was that he was attempting to get inside of Hogwarts. Suddenly, it came to him, he was attempting to get inside, with Ginny and his mother, when they were hit with a black cyclone. The cyclone had froze them in place, had knocked them unconscious. Apparently, it had transported them all here, wherever that was. Harry looked up, wondering if they were in Hogwarts, but there was too much fog to tell. Walking forward, Harry attempted to push through.

"Mum?" asked Harry tentatively, but there was nothing to be heard but the echo of Harry's own voice. "Ginny? Anyone? Is anyone out there?"

Harry did not like this. He could hear nothing and see nothing but loads of fog, in every direction. In the distance, Harry looked up and saw a mirror reflection of himself standing off in the distance. His eyes widened when he realized who he was facing off of.

"You!" shouted Harry as his counterpart just looked bored.

"Yes, you tried to exile me to that other dimension, to that void," responded Nega-Harry, as he faced off against Harry, looking at him with contempt. "You could never beat me, you could never save them, so you tried to bury the real problem, the fact you are nothing but someone who would eventually lead everyone he cares about to a premature death. You aren't the great wizard that everyone has foolishly thought you to be, only a dismal failure who is a burden to the world, hero."

Harry stood, clenching his fists. The words were eating at him, mostly because his mirror reflection was saying them to him. Basically, some doubts that had occasionally visited Harry's subconscious had been given a face, one that looked identical to the one that Harry saw in the mirror every day.

"Now, you ruined the lives of everyone in my life and my world, by casting me out," continued Nega-Harry. "That doesn't matter at all now, as I will destroy everyone you care about eventually, but I will settle for you right now. One more defeat should matter little, given how much of a failure you've been. You brought the plague of demons onto the world, because of your actions."

"ENOUGH!" shouted Harry as he rushed his counterpart, but the Dark-Emperor blocked his punch without expending any effort and grabbed Harry by the arm, before throwing him to the ground. Harry landed hard and was blasted right in the chest full force with a magical attack. Nega-Harry continued to pummel Harry with alternating magical and Muggle assaults.

"Come on, even you can fight back or are you unable to even do that anymore?" asked Nega-Harry with each magically enhanced punch and the words rang true, Harry seemed unable to fight off any of his mirror counterpart's attacks. "Failure, weak, inefficient, doomed everyone to destruction!"

Harry swung desperately, but was just knocked down. He threw a bludgeoning spell, an attack that was handily blocked, before Harry was hoisted up into the air and thrown down to the ground. Blood splattered from his right cheek as it was cut. The attack continued, mixed in with taunts, at Harry's own inability to block even the simplest of attacks.

Ginny's eyes opened and she gave a small yelp, when she realized she was in the Chamber of Secrets. Her confusion of the matter seemed to amplify when she saw the diary right next to her, and the puddle on the floor had shown her eleven year old reflection.

"Finally awake, I see," said the calm voice and Ginny backed off, seeing the shade of the sixteen year old Tom Marvolo Riddle floating right in front of her. Fears rang through her mind, everything that she had went through since the Chamber of Secrets had been an extremely elaborate dream. She was still very much in danger, Harry had not saved her yet and might even save her. "Yes, Ginny, I never left you, seeing your life, your dreams that will never be attained. Pure fantasy of a foolish girl, as someone as powerful as Harry Potter would not want something as common like you. He could have any girl that he wanted, in fact, he could have all the girls he wanted, just because of what he is."

"Harry's not like that!" yelled Ginny, but she seemed uncertain, had her mind concocted this entire life with Harry by her side? Ginny had stopped thinking of Harry as the Boy-Who-Lived when she was ten years old, but still, without that fact in mind, she felt she did not deserve Harry. Riddle had just laughed, as he saw doubts wash over Ginny's face, the girl was conflicted, in turmoil as she was too paralyzed to even move, petrified that everything she thought she had experienced was a lie.

"Yes, you might be friends right now, but Harry Potter has only taken pity on you, you're nothing but a charity case and it does make him look better by putting up with a sympathetic cause like yourself," taunted Riddle. "Your family has no standing in this word and as a girl, you are even less than them."

Ginny's mouth opened, as she blinked, shaking her head. She could not be back here, she could not be back in Riddle's grip. This was not happening. At that moment, she heard foot steps. Riddle looked excited, as Harry walked forward. Ginny let out a sigh of relief, but Harry seemed rather annoyed at her.

"So it was you," said Harry coldly, as he looked down at Ginny. "You were the one who set the Basilisk on all those students!"

"Harry, no, I wrote in the diary, I didn't know…" stated Ginny in a panicked voice.

"You were my friend and you stabbed me in the back," responded Harry as he turned to Riddle. "You know who this is, this is Lord Voldemort and you collaborated with him. Hermione's in the hospital wing, petrified because of you."

It was almost like her heart was tearing to shreds. Harry looked at Ginny, disgusted by the very sight.

"As amusing as this lover's spat is, you have been left alive for too long," said Riddle in a hiss, as he turned to the statue. "Kill him!"

A basilisk shot out towards Harry and he was unprepared to fight it off, too distracted by Ginny's betrayal. Ginny gasped as the basilisk moved right towards Harry and stared directly in his eyes. Harry thumped to the ground from the deadly stare of the basilisk. He was dead and it was all her fault.

"Do not weep little girl for him, you still have me," taunted Riddle, as he leered at Ginny, who felt defiled just by the look that he was giving her. "You opened your heart up to me and that's just one step away from opening your legs."

Ginny stared at Riddle, with hatred beyond anything she had ever experienced and Riddle just had a shadow of a smirk on his face, he was toying with her, before he had finished her off and now Harry was not going to win this time. Unlike what she thought happened, Harry had been killed instantly, by the basilisk.

"Why did you kill me?" asked a spooky voice in Ginny's ear, that caused shivers to run down her spy. "I was their only hope, but you had to trust the diary. You are such a naïve little girl, you can't even figure out when you're being played, now you've doomed the world, doomed them all, Voldemort will rise and it's all your fault. I was the only one who could beat him, I never should have trusted you."

At that moment, Riddle seemed to fade, but the corpse of Harry rose up, with lifeless pale skin and red demonic eyes.

"Why did you have to kill me, Ginny?" grumbled Harry.

"I'm sorry…" stated Ginny desperately, this could not have been happening, but Harry looked at her like she was the most disgusting piece of garbage.

"Sorry's not good enough for me, not from you," said Harry coldly. "I could have had any girl in the world, but I had to choose you. You were nothing but a burden to me, your friends, and your family. You were the one you did not want and truthfully, I never wanted you and for good reason…"

"STOP IT!" yelled Ginny in a horrified voice as she looked at Harry. It had cut her, not because of what he was saying, but because it was Harry of all people saying those words, but Harry's lips just contorted into a twisted smirk, unlike anything that she had known from Harry or rather thought she knew.

"The truth hurts," said Harry viciously. "And you know it's true by the look in your eyes, you are the one who has hurt me the most and the one that has caused more trouble by trusting your little friend inside the diary."

Lily jerked her eyes opened as shoe looked around. She was in the front room of Godric's Hallow and James was sitting there, looking rather concerned. Lily wondered what exactly was going on, sure she could not have hallucinated the last seventeen and a half years? She suspected the work of dark magic, but James had looked up.

"Is there something wrong Lily?" asked James.

"No, James nothing, I must have dozed off, I've been working hard," said Lily evenly, she thought it was best to play along with what was happening for now, until she figured out what was going on. She looked outside and her blood ran cold, rain splashed down to the ground outside, it was that night that Voldemort had found them when Wormtail opened. Sure enough the approaching footsteps lead to James jumping out and looking out the window, to see a robed figure approaching.

"Lily it's him!" shouted James and Lily rose up with a start. "Go get Harry, I'll try to hold him off."

Lily almost wanted to protest this, considering how she knew it would work, but some force directed her legs to move. She rushed up the stairs, as she just heard the door burst open behind her shoulder. Lily quickly moved up the stairs, throwing the door open to her son's run. Harry was stirring, the one year old looking very annoyed at being prematurely woken up. Lily shushed Harry and picked him up, trying to get her emergency Portkey. When she tried to activate it, it would not move, much like she suspected it to. Downstairs a loud crash was heard and footsteps were heard. They quickened, Lily placed Harry down, there was no way she could get downstairs or escape in anyway. The door opened, as it swung open, to reveal the snake like face of Voldemort, who stood coldly.

"Stand aside you silly little girl," warned Voldemort and Lily just stood there, not moving, not saying anything, as she mentally placed the ritual that would be the downfall of Voldemort, not knowing what to believe, whether or not dark magic was in play. "Did you not here me, I told you to move, you have tempted with fate, by you defying me, you won't be allowed to do so any longer. Join me and I will allow you to live."

"I'll never abandon Harry," said Lily firmly.

"AVADA KEDAVRA!" yelled Voldemort and a jet of green light blasted right towards Lily. She did not back down, she allowed the light to hit her and she dropped to the ground, as she could sense Voldemort turn his attention to Harry, with a smirk, as Harry began to scream his head off, as Voldemort raised his wand. "AVADA KEDAVRA!"

The light struck Harry and Voldemort stood, with a triumphant look in his eyes. The child dropped down where he laid, not moving, laying there, unmarked, but not alive. Voldemort walked off, his work dome, as the Potters had been destroyed. Lily's senses slowly went back to her, her mind fogged, trying to fight off the illusions, but seeing her son dead at any age terrified Lily, no matter the circumstances.

"No, Harry, it's not happening, you're not dead," begged Lily. "It's some kind of trick, some kind of dark magic, I did everything I could…"

"You got us both killed, you stupid Mudblood," said a voice and Lily looked up, her blood running cold, as she saw the spectral form of James standing there, looking at Lily with contempt. "I see now why they all thing that muggleborns are useless, you ruined my life, you got our son killed, my son, by tampering with your little rituals."

"James, I tested everything, nothing should have gotten wrong," begged Lily, finally getting caught up on the horrific illusions around her.

"It did," said James coldly. "I wasted my life chasing you, I could have had anyone, but I settled for you. You were useless, you did nothing to save us, either of us…"

"I tried to get us out, you were the one who listened to Dumbledore, if you wouldn't have listened to him, we could have gotten out of this country, away from this all," argued Lily, who began to get angry.

"Well, you should have done a better job talking me into it, you gave up too easily, this was a plot for you get my fortune, wasn't it?" accused James. "All of the gold to yourself, Lily…"

"Listen, you arrogant idiot, I would give up all the gold in the world to get you and Harry back," said Lily, who was losing her patience, but James responded with a cold laugh that brought Lily back to her senses. "This isn't like you James, because it isn't you. I know what happened, Draxxor forced me to see this, I need to get out of here, to help Harry and Ginny, they're in trouble as well…"

"You killed Harry!" yelled James. "And you got me killed as well, if it wasn't for you, I would still be alive"

"No, James, Voldemort killed you and there hasn't been a day that I forgot that, nothing I could do would have saved you, no matter how much I wanted to try," said Lily in a regrettable tone of voice, as she looked at the twisted representation of James Potter, that began to become inaudible as the illusion began to fade. "A boggart I should have known. Riddikulus."

Lily put all of her power into the spell, as it struck the boggart and the scene around her slowly faded. She was inside the dome and she saw Ginny and Harry stand there, motionless, but a haunted look in their eyes and Lily could see immediately that they were fighting some kind of horrific battle. Harry seemed to being hanging on the most, so Lily reasoned that she needed to snap him out of it first and with the bond, it would be easier for Harry to snap Ginny out of it.

Draxxor watched, as the crystals were pointed to the ground. His demons brought an archway into the picture, cloaked by a veil. From beyond the veil, there were haunted whispers, that were intended to drive all humans to jump right through the veil, giving the horrors inside the Realm of Darkness fresh prey. Now, Draxxor would use the veil as the means to complete his plans from a thousand years ago.

"Place it down," stated Draxxor and the demons placed the veil down. Draxxor flicked his wrist and tentacles burst out of the ground, latching the crystals to the veil. The crystals began to glow, as they siphoned the magic out of Hogwarts. "Only a matter of moments from the crystals to be charged up, to project the opening of the veil just outside the orbit of this planet and then we can begin to create the vacuum effect that will lead this planet back home."

The demons looked excited, Draxxor could have taken the planet any time now, but once it was in the Realm of Darkness, it would be in his turf with millions of demons and other nastiness at his command. Any chance these mortals would have hand, even if it was microscopic would be no more. Draxxor checked the dome, it remained up, no doubt the three occupants would be driven insane soon enough.

Harry continued to fight his cracked mirror image and was knocked to the ground. The Dark Emperor swung the punch and knocked Harry backwards, as Harry felt blood drip from his face. As Nega-Harry stepped back, Harry saw the ground covered with bodies, the corpses of his friends and family were right in front of him.

"See the destruction you caused by not doing what was necessary," said Nega-Harry coldly, as Harry backed off, a haze is mind, they were all fine. "If you had taken a stronger hand…"

"HARRY, NONE OF THIS IS REAL!" shouted a voice from the distance, causing Harry to give a start, and Nega-Harry to pause himself, before he rushed Harry, but Harry ducked the attack and leapt up, taking out his double with a kick. Another kick and the Dark Emperor backed off, before Harry gave his head a little shake. Nega-Harry raised his fist and Harry quickly dodged around, and leapt up, before he impacted his counterpart with another punch. Harry drew his fist back and threw it. He could not stop himself, as the form of his mirror counterpart had turned into Ginny as Harry's fist just smashed right into her face. Harry gasped in fear.

"Why did you hurt me Harry?" asked Ginny, as her face was bruised and cut up by one punch, tears streaming down her face, as she looked up at Harry, as more blood dripped down, as Harry backed off. "All I ever did was love you, yet did this to me, you hurt me…"

Harry blocked what she was saying out of his mind, because it was all beginning to make sense, he saw some entity, with Ginny's face, but since he felt nothing, he was certain it was not her. It was an amplification of fears, and it had attempted to distract him from finding a way out, as Ginny stood out, before Harry screwed his eyes shut, attempting to block the effects of the dome out of his mind. Sure enough, in a matter of seconds, everything was beginning to fate, despite the Ginny in front of him becoming more bloodied and beaten, but Harry heard a rattling sound, as the dome was beginning to falter, as it was unable to hold the illusion in Harry's mind.

Harry collapsed to his knees, breathing heavily, as his mother rushed over to him, helping Harry up to his feet. Shaken, Harry rose to his feet, as he saw fluctuations of dark magic from around the doom.

"If we break the hold this thing has on Ginny, we should be able to escape the dome," said Harry quickly, and Lily seemed to get the same wavelength as her son, as Harry turned to face Ginny.

In the Chamber, Ginny backed off, as Harry's features became more contorted and twisted, demonic, as he was a rotting, walking corpse, as he breathed cold breath on her, that caused her to shiver.

"Why are you doing this to me Harry?" cried Ginny. "I made a mistake, no, you have to understand, I don't…."

"I understand what a stupid bitch you are, Ginny," interrupted Harry coldly and Ginny had put her wand to her throat, reading to use a cutting charm on it, rather than bear what Harry was saying to her.. "I understand…that you must understand that everything that you've seen since the cyclone hit you is an illusion, Ginny, you must fight it off."

Ginny blinked, as she could have sworn she saw a much older version of Harry, but it flickered in and out of focus.

"You failed me…no Ginny, ignore everything," said a first voice, before getting interrupted by an older, forceful voice, as Ginny nodded, she suddenly looked in the puddle, as she was seventeen, as opposed to the scared eleven year old girl into the Chamber, memories flashed back to her and she began to scowl at the demonic bastardization of her beloved Harry.

"Harry, I can feel you now, I couldn't feel that thing, it's trying to keep me back, he almost had me in…" said Ginny, before she aimed her wand and blasted the apparition in front of her. It flew back, smacking against the wall, as she felt something firmly grab her by the hands and gently pull her forward. The next thing she knew, Harry had her enveloped in a hug, Ginny resting her head on Harry's shoulder, before he looked up in his green eyes. "I thought for a moment…it nearly had me fooled…"

"The dome's power clogged our ability to think rationally, affecting each of our minds, you seemed to be a bit more susceptible to it for some reason, but it came close to trapping us into a mental prison of despair" responded Harry calmly, before he turned to his mother, as the dome began to rumble, as it began to crumble, as the gates of Hogwarts broke completely open from the backlash of magic.

The next thing they knew, Lily, Ginny, and Harry had all found themselves outside the dome and on the grounds, but large winds were kicked up and Harry chanced a look upwards, as he saw a huge black vortex swirling from high above Hogwarts, with fog leaking out of it.

"I know what he's doing now," said Lily quietly. "He's using Hogwarts magic to create a super powered vacuum charm and open a portal above the school."

"That's the Realm of Darkness on the other side, isn't it?" asked Harry grimly and Lily nodded.

"And Earth's heading right for it," summarized Lily grimly. "He's going to drag the entire planet through into the Realm of Darkness, it was his plan all along. He just wanted to keep us out of the way."


	41. Chapter 41: Powers Dark Part Three

**Chapter Forty One: Powers Dark Part Three:**

Fluctuations of dark magic erupted in the sky, as the vortex swirled around Hogwarts, the mist growing. Harry squinted his eyes studying the scene high above him, another problem had presented itself. The vortex that had been created above Hogwarts, the portal to the Realm of Darkness, was widening by the moment. Harry, Lily, and Ginny looked up at it, before they walked back to join the others, to attempt to find an alternate way to get inside the school, for Harry to get his hands on Slytherin's Blade. The members of the group looked rather anxious, especially after seeing the looks on each of their faces just moments after exiting the dome.

"Uh, what is that?" asked Mikey, breaking the silence as he looked up at the swirling vortex above the school. "It doesn't look rather friendly."

"That's because it's not," responded Harry quickly, and everyone leaned forward to listen. "Draxxor's using the magic around Hogwarts, to create a portal to the Realm of Darkness above the school. If we're right, he's not going to bring any more of his followers here, but rather he's going to bring the entire planet to the Realm of Darkness. And in about thirty minutes, that vortex will be big enough to do the job."

"But, you do have an idea, right Harry?" asked Hailey hopefully and the others also looked at Harry with questioning looks and Harry paused, standing still, remembering what Draxxor had done to them when they had even entered the grounds, the dome was still fresh in their minds.

"I have nothing," said Harry quietly. "For once, I don't have all of the answers."

"It is interesting that you give up at this point, Potter, if it was one of my plans, you would work your hardest to foil it until the bitter end, even if it was utterly hopeless," said a cold voice and Harry's eyes darted up, along with his wand, as he saw Lord Voldemort walk forward, with a small group of Death Eaters. Voldemort watched in amusement as several wands and weapons have been placed on him, but he looked cool and calm as usual. "Potter, I am not here to fight, but rather to assist you and your allies against Draxxor and his followers."

Everyone looked at each other, it was inconceivable that Voldemort would offer help to anyone but himself. Many were dumbstruck and Harry and Ginny exchanged a look, both thinking the same thing, Voldemort had to have some sort of hidden agenda to offer his help against Draxxor and his followers. After a moment, it was Sirius who had decided to break the silence.

"You of all people want to help us," said Sirius. "After all you've done, you and your followers, you all of the sudden expect that all to be forgiven and us to trust you."

"Black, I expect nothing to be forgiven, but the fact remains that if Draxxor wins, all of humanity is doomed, Muggle, magic, squib, half bloods, Mudbloods, blood traitors, it doesn't matter, the world will end," said Voldemort softly. "Rest assure that I am no more pleased with this arrangement than any of you are, but it is the only thing to do. Of course, you can allow the world to fall, if that's what you desire."

Harry stood there, and Ginny leaned forward.

"We can't trust him," muttered Ginny. "He's only interested in preserving the world so he can take it over."

"I know, Ginny, believe me," said Harry in a defeated tone of voice, his back had never been more against the wall than ever before, to consider an alliance with Lord Voldemort. "He's not exactly someone that I would trust, but…I don't know, I guess I'm just desperate to think there may be a chance that we can work together, if we formed a truce, we can stop Draxxor. If nothing else, his extensive knowledge of dark magic might come in handy."

"Harry, he's Voldemort, I know you know what he's capable of," said Ginny, as the others looked around, as Voldemort stood, with his Death Eaters, as Harry's eyes flickered to the vortex about Hogwarts. He was getting nowhere just standing around here, this was not something that they could work out in time, they had no time and Voldemort just stood, Harry slowly turning, he could not believe he was doing

"Riddle, let me make one thing perfectly clear, joining up with you is the last thing I want to do," said Harry and Voldemort nodded in agreement. "However, we have no choice, but let me make one thing perfectly clear. This is just a truce, the moment that Draxxor's finished. We're going to finish our business with each other as it should be."

"Yes Potter, we are in agreement on that point," responded Voldemort. "Anything that happens during this temporary agreement will not hold true. If we do happen to save each other's life, there will be no life debts."

"Agreed, Riddle," said Harry with a nod of his head and at that second, a white light erupted around, engulfing Harry, Ginny, Voldemort, Hailey, and Lily. To the outside world nothing had happened, but the five had been transported to a barren wasteland. Voldemort looked around.

"Where are we?" demanded Voldemort who looked around at the wasteland they had been transported. "What are you trying to accomplish Potter?"

"You know that's exactly what I've been wondering, this is not a place that actually looks all that inviting," said Harry as he looked around, the swirling mist around in the air and the blackened ground below his feet. "Wherever it is, it's not been inhabited for a very long time."

"One thousand, five hundred, and fifty years to be exact, for reasons that got Draxxor exiled into the Realm of Darkness," said a voice as young woman who looked like an older version of Ginny walked into the picture, before she surveyed the group calmly and Ginny and Harry looked at each other, recognizing her immediately.

"Chandalence!" shouted Harry and Ginny in unison and Chandalence nodded to confirm their theory, before another figure stepped forward.

"Salazar Slytherin," said Voldemort in an awed tone or at least as awed as Voldemort would allow himself to sound, Slytherin and Chandalence stood side by side, it was almost uncanny how much they looked like older versions of Harry and Ginny.

"They are all here, Salazar," said Chandalence quietly and Salazar shook his head. "You did say Harry, Ginny, Hailey, Lily, and Tom to be brought here, didn't you?"

"Yes and I see the bastardization that is Lord Voldemort standing before me, instead of my descendant Tom Riddle, and I know you're still in there somewhere, Tom, buried in that abomination so I am going to bring you out so I can speak with you properly," said Salazar and he jabbed his wand towards Voldemort. Voldemort gave a scream and seemed to be fighting something, but his face appeared to be quite a passive look on his face. "It won't last long, maybe an hour at the absolute most, but it's all we can do, to keep Voldemort out of this, once this is over, you will remember nothing. People throw around the term dark magic all too much these days, but most of what you did would be considered to be dark magic. You are not entirely innocent with what you've brought upon yourself, with Voldemort being born out of your fractured mind and soul, but the guilt is not yours either. Draxxor knew what he was playing at when he used supplied your mother with the love potion to use on Riddle."

"Draxxor did what?" demanded Lily and she was shocked, she had assumed that Merope Gaunt had made the love potion on her own accord and had drugged Tom Riddle, but now, everything was beginning to add up.

"She was little more than a squib due to years of inbreeding, and while squibs can do some basic potion work, nothing as intricate as a love potion can be concocted," said Salazar calmly. "Once he took over Dumbledore's body, Draxxor did all he could to ruin the reputation of the Slytherin line, saying that they were all prone to be dark wizards and witches. Many cases, more since Dumbledore was Headmaster, yes, but there had been many dark lords throughout history that have came out of Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff, not to mention outside of Hogwarts either. Draxxor carefully planned everything, I don't need to give an account of Tom's life story, but a dark lord that was descended from me would forever brand the Slytherin house as evil. Voldemort was much more of a problem to Draxxor's own plans but that was nothing compared to Harry. In six years, Harry pretty much trashed an entire mortal lifetime's worth of work and the thing is, Draxxor does not know you were also descended from me."

"Right, so we know that Draxxor has a grudge against Slytherin," said Tom quietly, not as forceful as he was before, but there were still some hints of what could turn back towards Lord Voldemort at any second. "And the Potter line is also descended from Slytherin, I take it."

"No, actually Harry, Hailey, and Lily are the only one's who are descended and since Ginny is bonded to Harry, it is fair that she knows this as well," said Salazar and Tom seemed to be shocked beyond belief that Slytherin could be traced back through Muggles. "Yes, my youngest daughter, a squib, she left when she became of age and disappeared in the Muggle World. It was a much kinder fate to just vanish without trace, as she would have been ridiculed through prejudices that were already beginning to form."

"No offense, as nice as this conversation is, but we need to get back, Draxxor's going to transport Earth into the Realm of Darkness," said Hailey quickly, at least ten minutes had to have passed and Ginny, Harry, and Lily also seemed anxious, with Tom seeming rather distant and indifferent.

"Time does not matter, out there, no time has passed, physical manifestations of your minds have been transported to the only safe place in the universe that Draxxor would never look," said Chandalence. "I mean, why should he, he already picked this planet clean of all resources and disposed of the lifeless rock. Nothing but darkness extends from all directions here."

"It is the fate that Draxxor must intend for Earth, he knows that once it's in the Realm of Darkness, there is no way for it to escape, with larger legions of his followers that are already here," continued Salazar, as he rubbed the bridge of his knows. "The demon doesn't value mortal life, he doesn't care about the potential ramifications of ripping a planet out of orbit that will have for this universe and any close by. In fact, if more inhabited worlds die, he will consider it a personal triumph."

"There are questions that must be answered before you can properly be sent back and attempt to rescue the world from Draxxor's clutches," said Chandalence. "The question of the bond between Harry and Ginny have come to mind, the fact that yes, we are a part of you, but a small part, perhaps one percent of what you are. The bond was not created by fate. Rather it was the two of you and despite the similarities you share to Salazar and myself physically, you are rather different. At times, yes, we have guided you as the best as we could subconsciously, but mostly, your triumphs were through your own abilities and wits."

"Yes and I extend a warning, Draxxor will want to personally deal with any heirs of Slytherin personally," said Salazar. "Once Harry collects Slytherin's Blade, Draxxor will know of Harry's connection to my blood line and by extension, he will also target Lily, Hailey, and Ginny above all else. I managed to block Voldemort's recollection of Harry using my weapon from Draxxor's mind, but nothing will stop him from putting together the pieces once you use weapon."

"And I will have to use the weapon," said Harry and Salazar responded with a calm nod of his head.

"We will be with you all when it occurs and both sides of the conflict that Draxxor has caused will have to work together to ensure he is defeated," said Chandalence. "If I am correct, Tom will revert to Voldemort in time so the final element of the prophecy can play out, but only if Draxxor is defeated. If not, the world is doomed. This is one time that you can't afford to fail."

"And we won't," said Ginny firmly and Harry also agreed.

"So, it's time for us to be sent back," replied Harry and Chandalence nodded, before she raised her hand, as the physical manifestations of the minds of Voldemort, Ginny, Harry, Hailey, and Lily all disappeared from the barren wasteland of a world.

They were back outside the gate. Time had not passed for anyone but the five who had left and a hint of a way to get inside the school that Draxxor had not even known had just entered his head. He suspected that Salazar had put it there before they had been transported back to the real world.

"We have to work together, it's the only way, what ever happens after, happens," remarked Harry evenly, as the vortex above the school considered to grow wider. "The Secret Passageways are our most vital resource, but not until I give the signal, because I think I have a way to negate the protections around the school for a period of two minutes. The way inside is something that I'd like to keep to myself, but perhaps we can mount a distraction from the font."

"We will handle that Potter, we will move in from the front and perhaps do some damage from that side," responded Voldemort and the Death Eaters looked, confused with the somewhat softer demeanor that Voldemort had possessed, but did not say anything about it due to the great fear they had of Voldemort.

"That will work, I will tell Ginny once I'm inside and disrupt Draxxor's plans and she'll lead you inside the school," said Harry and Ginny nodded, before Harry gave her a quick kiss good bye and rushed forward, reaching into a bag inside his robes. Harry blinked three times and the bag opened, the battle armor that Harry created to face the Utrom Shredder fitting together on his body. To properly fight that demon, he would need something durable to help soften the brunt of his assaults. Harry entered the Shrieking Shack, and stepped forward, moving past all the ripped furniture, before he forced the door open and moved down the secret passageway. He quickened his steps, as he moved closer to the Whomping Willow. Harry rushed through, exiting through the Willow, as he froze the knot, causing the branches to stop. He saw the Lake through the fog.

Quickly, Harry put a bubble headed charm on himself, before he somersaulted forward. He landed right on his feet and splashed into the lake. Harry swam through the lake, looking for the back door entrance to the Chamber of Secrets. An entrance that Salazar had placed inside the school as his very last act prior to departing. The Grindylows swam from below, grabbing at Harry's ankles, but Harry dodged around, before he looked down, seeing a large cylinder structure with a snake on the bottom. Diving down, Harry blasted jets of hot water at the Grindylows, fighting them off, before Harry faced the cylinder.

"Reveal," hissed Harry in Parseltongue and it revealed a door, which Harry pushed open and allowed him entrance inside the Chamber of Secrets. He could hear the Grindylows attempted to push through, but Harry was safely inside the Chamber of Secrets and he would be inside the main school in no time.

From above Draxxor sat on a wooden chair, as he watched the magic flow from Hogwarts through the crystals into the veil and being projected above. Soon enough, the world would be his, soon enough Draxxor would return home. Those fools thought they had banished Draxxor but really it had given the power to extend his power.

"Master Draxxor!" rasped one of the demons as he rushed forward, kneeling at Draxxor's feet, and Draxxor calmly signaled for him to rise to properly face him. "There is an attempt to break through, it is the heir of Slytherin and his minions."

"Let them inside, I still need to wipe out the line of Slytherin personally," said Draxxor curtly, his hands folded together, and his followers nodded. "Bring Riddle to me, do what you must to stop the rest from coming."

"Absolutely Master Draxxor," chorused the demon as he moved off to alert the others near the exit of their master's words. Draxxor sat, as he watched the portal widen outside the window, perhaps fifteen or twenty minutes, before it would be wide enough and than the vacuum effect would start to pull the Earth out of orbit during the next five minutes. The storied planet would be nothing but an oversized rock after it had been drained of all resources both magical and Muggle, humans would be used for slave labor or food.

Harry had made his way out, he was nearly inside Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. Quickly, he exited the Chamber of Secrets and entered the fog filled bathroom. Harry magically drew a Rune on the wall, hoping this would work.

"This is Harry Potter, heir of Salazar Slytherin," said Harry and the Rune flashed, indicating that it had recognized Harry as such. It seemed once again Harry was subconsciously being relayed what to do from the spirit of Slytherin. "As the one with the Heart of the Warrior, I command magical suppressors to be activated."

"Your will has been accepted, Hogwarts magical suppressors activated," said a vague voice and Harry nodded, that demon would not have been able to drain any magic from the school to activate his portal, if said magic was just stalled completely and Harry removed the mirror from his pocket, as Ginny was waiting on the other end.

"Get everyone in quickly, but a couple of things to remember, if you meet Draxxor, don't directly use your Patroni towards him, he knows some kind of spell that can turn them against you," said Harry. "I doubt any of the other demons know it, but still, you can never be too careful. They can be injured by very strong attacks, but it's best to avoid a head on confrontation. Just keep them distracted."

"Right Harry…we have a problem out here," said Ginny, as she heard yells, as she directed her eyes towards the swirling vortex above Hogwarts before she quickly spun her attention back towards Harry. "There is a problem, something's trying to get through the vortex..."

"Try and have someone block the portal, Partoni might work in this case, but fight whatever's coming through as little as possible," responded Harry and Ginny nodded, understanding. "I've got to collect my sword right now."

"Right Harry, good luck, I'll take care of it," said Ginny and the mirror went blank, as Harry moved his way into the hallway, dressed in his battle armor. The nearest entrance to the Slytherin library was a corridor down and Harry hoped that he would not run into any resistance.

That hope was misplaced, as a small group of demons patrolling the hallway advanced on Harry. Harry quickly flicked his wrist, causing a painting to fly off the wall. The occupant screamed in horror as it slammed against a couple of the demons. The demons angrily burned through the painting, but Harry transformed a tapestry into solid stone, before he sprung up and knocked it over right into the demons with a large gust of wind. He heard the stone slab shatter and was pushed forward by a blast of dark magic. It bounced off of his battle armor and Harry flicked his wand, sending both a gust of wind and a miniature flood to slow down his pursuers. Harry dodged a blast and landed right in front of the entrance. Quickly, he placed his hand on the wall and leaned forward. From the outside world, it appeared that Harry had leaned right through solid stone and vanished.

In reality, Harry had ended up in the one place in the world that not even Draxxor or Voldemort had never found, the library of Salazar Slytherin.

Draxxor leapt right up to his feet, as the humming in his crystals ceased immediately. The demon lord's eyes widened, he could not believe it, something had happened, those crystals could not have failed suddenly. Someone tampered with something inside the school and Draxxor waved his hand, a green light blinking over the wall. During his time as Headmaster, he knew learned more than a few tricks about the school. Sure enough, a small rune appeared on the wall. If he could hazard a guess, a similar rune had appeared in every room, blocking the magic in the air around Hogwarts, that sustained it. If there had been any observant Muggles outdoors, they might have seen it flicker from castle to runes. Draxxor touched his finger to the rune, to override it, but it remained immobile.

"You do not have the power to override Hogwarts," said the voice. "The one with the Heart of the Warrior activated this and is thus the one that can override it."

Draxxor clenched his fist. He had no idea what was happening, but he would have to force the magical suppressors and wipe them out. The walls of Hogwarts began to swirl in black light as the castle walls began to rumble, as Draxxor physically forced the suppressors open. It also had the added bonus of super charging the crystals, thus accelerating the process by several moments. The window of time for Earth was closing, as Draxxor looked triumphant, when the doors burst open, to reveal Voldemort standing right before there, wand raised.

"Never thought you would be the one to play the hero, Tom," said Draxxor.

"Heroics have nothing to do with this, demon," said Voldemort, as Tom slowly began to fade, some of the nastiness of Voldemort returning. "My followers are doing an admirable enough job at keeping yours at bay, enough for me to take care of you. If you take this world, then I'll have nothing to rule."

"You are nothing, child," responded Draxxor in a bored voice as he raised his hand, before he blasted a jet of white hot light, which Voldemort quickly dodged out of the way. Another attack, and Voldemort quickly deflected it back at him, before he swooped in front of Draxxor, before he conjured a dagger implanted with poison before he blasted right towards Draxxor. The dagger impacted itself right in Draxxor's chest. The demon took a step back, a surprised look on its face, but it calmly reached forward and pulled the dagger out of its chest. In a flash, it crushed it to dust, before he turned to Voldemort. "Tom, that almost came close to hurting."

Several of Draxxor's followers had burst through the front door, Voldemort stood rigid, he knew that his followers had been taken dealt with if Draxxor's demons, as they stood behind their master, as Draxxor quickly moved in for the attack. The first one was avoided by Voldemort, but the second one had connected, with Draxxor knocking his opponent back. Voldemort looked up, feeling a hand contract around his throat, before Voldemort was pulled up, the cold blue eyes of Draxxor bearing into his face.

"You are powerful Riddle, but only human, no matter how many times you ripped your soul apart and now I'm going to take that one small fragment that resides in your body, leaving you completely empty," said Draxxor but the door cracked open, to reveal several unwelcome guests. "Potter's friends and family, I should have expected you to show up, dispose of the now."

The demons rushed forward as Draxxor relaxed his grip on Voldemort long enough for Voldemort to fight back, slashing his wand towards the demon. Draxxor was uninjured but it still allowed Voldemort to levitated a desk off the ground, before he whipped his wand, causing it to transfigure into a spinning blade that intended to decapitate Draxxor. Draxxor fired black fire from his finger tips, blasting Voldemort's attack to dust.

The Turtles circled around. They wished they had their mystic weapons from the Tribunal right now, but these demons were slightly more powerful than the one's that worked for the Shredder. Several pieces of furniture were blasted apart from wand blasts, so each of the Turtles picked them up, before throwing the pieces into the path of the demons, misdirecting their assaults, allowing several nets to be shot, to secure some of the attackers for the time being.

"Exactly how long do we have to keep this up," said Don, as he avoided the demon's rattling breath, by springing up, before he put his shell to the wall and kicked a desk right into the path of the demon, knocking him backwards and several blasts wrapped this one up.

"Long enough for Harry to arrive," said Master Splinter in an undertone, before he sprung up, using his walking stick to detect a torch from above before he flung it down, knocking it right onto the top of the demon's head. As Hailey helped Neville, Luna, and Hermione net a particular bothersome demon.

"Enough of these games!" shouted Draxxor, as he blasted Voldemort backwards, before he clapped his hands together. Thick vines shot from the ground, wrapping around all of his enemies, causing them to be bound together. It forced them to their knees, where Draxxor thought all humans should be before him. Draxxor turned his attention to Ginny. "Throw this one through the veil, we'll give her a head start to the Realm of Darkness."

"LET GO OF ME!" yelled Ginny, as a trio of demons hoisted her up. Ginny, kicked, punched, attempted to curse the demons with wandless magic, anything she could to escape, but she was carried closer and closer to the veil, hearing the voices from beyond, attempting to tempt her to come forward. It was all Ginny could to block them

Suddenly, the demons dropped Ginny, feeling a hot wave of air blast them in the back. Ginny managed to grab a piece of glass that had been broken during the battle and cut herself free. As this was happening, the trio of demons was blasted to dust by blue flames.

"Who dares?" demanded Draxxor as he looked up and the demon looked absolutely shocked when he saw Harry Potter holding Slytherin's Blade, with an intense look on his face and Draxxor began putting the pieces together, before he rose up to his full height, seeing what he perceived to be the reincarnation of his old enemy. Now that he thought about it, he should have seen the resemblance, but he was too focused on Voldemort. "Slytherin you live."

"In a matter of speaking, yes," said Harry quickly, before he dove up. Draxxor could not block the assault from the blade, as it slashed against his chest. The demon lord thumped to the ground but sprung back up, shooting fire right at Harry. Harry put up a shield of ice with help of the sword, before he moved forward. The armor was blocking out most of the hopeless aura and Harry aimed Slytherin's Blade, before he knocked Draxxor right into the wall of Hogwarts with a thunderous burst of wind.

"Get him, grab the sword!" thundered Draxxor and the demons dove, but they paused, it seemed as if they were reluctant to get near the sword, as Harry jabbed it into the ground, causing the vines holding everyone in place to retreat right back to where they come from. Everyone moved forward, Ginny stepped as far away from the veil as she could, as Harry twirled the sword and caused the demons to scatter, to avoid the cyclone of wind it had created, intending on devouring them. Harry moved over, he saw the crystals draining Hogwarts and saw that the portal was still widening, at an accelerated rate, so he swung the sword. Seconds later, the crystals shattered, causing hundreds of pieces of various sizes to drop to the ground.

Draxxor did not seem put off by this, rather he began laughing. Harry did not like this laugh and neither did anyone else.

"You are just a moment too late Slytherin, I've already drained enough power from the school, in moments the vacuum effect will begin and within five after that, Earth will be yanked forward before being transported to the Realm of Darkness," said Draxxor. "As long as I live, the portal will remain open."

"You won't get away with this!" yelled Harry but Draxxor just looked amused, before large tentacle like constructs shot out of his body, grabbing onto his followers.

"I already have," said Draxxor coldly, his breath causing a cold wind, as he pulled his demon followers into him, fusing them into his body, to some sort of demented battle armor. Several of them fused into a shining black sword that made Slytherin's blade look like a butter knife. "However, Salazar Slytherin, if you wish to stop me, we'll do this properly."

Draxxor thundered forward, breathing yellow flames at Harry. Harry dodged out of the way, before he threw several daggers at Draxxor. These just bounced off of him, before Draxxor continued his rampage towards Harry, ripping a section of the floor up, before he flung it right towards the Boy-Who-Lived. Harry sliced it to bits with the sword and a large dome appeared around them, blocking anyone from interfering. Harry, Draxxor, and Voldemort were inside the dome together. Harry swiped the sword forward, sending several razor sharp spikes at Draxxor. Draxxor blocked them before he blasted Harry backwards.

"Stand still," said Draxxor as he swung the sword down but it slammed right across the dome. Harry avoided another shot, as Voldemort shot the black ropes out of his wand, in an attempt to strangle Draxxor but Draxxor quickly broke through these. Several more dark curses bounced off the demon's living armor, before the dark abomination swung the sword. Voldemort gave an anguished hiss, as he dropped to the ground, blood oozing from his chest. Draxxor turned his attention to Harry, who held Slytherin's Blade steadily. "Now, one on one, this time no trickery will help you."

Draxxor blasted several attacks at Harry, one of which knocked Slytherin's Blade out of his hand. The sword clattered to the ground and Harry as well, as he saw a large piece of the crystal in the distance. Instinctively, Harry picked up the crystal as Draxxor moved forward. Draxxor stopped, as Harry held the crystal up. It was affecting Draxxor somewhat, as the demon lord backed off. Harry moved forward and slashed the crystal right at Draxxor. The crystal ripped into Draxxor's battle armor, and was beginning to pull several of the demons off of him. Throwing all caution to the wind, Harry threw his arm backwards, the several of the demons thrown through the veil. A gaping hole appeared in Draxxor's battle armor, but he was not going to give this up without a fight, as he swung the black sword, but it stuck into the crystal. Several of the demons swirled into the air, in a cyclone. Letting go of them, Harry propelled them right through the veil, leaving Draxxor without a sword and with damage to his armor.

Angrily, Draxxor attempted to blast Harry with a full force assault, but Harry stabbed the crystal right into Draxxor's right arm, ripping the demons fused to it off. It was painful for Draxxor and the demons wrapped around him. Without a pause, Harry flung them right through the veil. Harry moved over, avoiding another attempt, as he ripped the crystal into the left arm, before he tore the demons off of that. They spun around and were thus propelled through the veil. Harry continued to tear the demons off of Draxxor piece by piece, propelling all of them into the Realm of Darkness, using the crystal, until only Draxxor remained. Harry held the crystal, preparing to use it to finish Draxxor off, but much to his horror, it crumbled to dust and Draxxor blasted him right to the ground. Harry's armor blocked the brunt of the attack, but not without being damaged slightly. Rolling over, Harry watched as Draxxor picked up Slytherin's Blade in his hand, holding it up triumphantly.

"At last, I have it, Slytherin's Blade!" shouted Draxxor, as he held the sword up, the dome collapsing. "Now to destroy it and any chance you ever had of defeating me had been lost."

Harry bent his knees and jumped right at Draxxor. Draxxor attempted to destroy Harry with one final shot, but Harry duck, dodged, and rolled, before Draxxor managed to partially connect with the attack just as Harry was to his side. The Boy-Who-Lived landed on the ground, but as Draxxor prepared to destroy the weapon.

"No, I had it!" yelled Draxxor but he saw Harry get to his feet, Slytherin's Blade in his hands, having reclaimed it through some carefully placed ninja trickery. At that moment, a loud tremor rocked all of Hogwarts, as winds kicked out from outside, slamming across the school. Trees began to rip from the ground from the Forbidden Forest. "It doesn't matter, Earth is already on it's way to the Realm of Darkness. All hope is lost but you, I'm going to finish you off personally."

An orange light enveloped Draxxor, as he prepared to blast Harry right to smithereens just like he did several Death Eaters previously. Quickly, Leo, Don, Raph, and Mikey did the only thing they could think of. The four mutant turtles threw their weapons right at Draxxor. The weapons landed right at Draxxor's feet, causing his concentration to be broken and he slowly turned his attention to the four Turtles, ready to eradicate them.

"Loathsome creatures," said Draxxor coldly and Harry knew what he needed to do, eying the veil behind him as another tremor rocked Hogwarts and indeed the rest of the world. Quickly, a back flip had placed the Boy-Who-Lived right in behind Draxxor, where he grabbed Draxxor, wrapping his arm around his throat. Draxxor struggled. "Let me go you fool, let me go."

Draxxor struggled, as he flung Harry in front of him but Harry pushed Draxxor forward, before both were knocked right towards the veil. Ginny screamed as they lost their balance and she was not the only one, as both slowly fell right through. Throwing herself forward, Ginny grabbed onto Harry's right hand, just before it passed through, an act that kept Harry anchored to the mortal world, if just barely.

Harry looked around, he felt Ginny's hand on his, he marveled at her quick thinking, but the air bit at his arms, several demonic creatures circled from above, just awaiting fresh pray and there was a large crater below that periodically shot green smoke into the air that gave off intense heat. In his free hand, Harry still had Slytherin's Blade, as Draxxor held onto his ankles.

"I don't know what you hoped to accomplish, Slytherin, but I rule this Realm and soon, Earth will be here, you failed them in the end and I won," bragged Draxxor.

"If you rule so much, then let go of my ankles," said Harry roughly, as loud, demonic laughter echoed in Harry's ears, it was enough to drive anyone to insanity.

"Not until you give me that sword, human," growled Draxxor, as Harry attempted to kick him off, but the demon was relentless, in fact, he seemed to hold on tighter and when he thought Harry was not looking, he eyed the crater below. Something told Harry that Draxxor did not want to go down there.

"You want this sword, HERE TAKE THE SWORD!" yelled Harry firmly, as he heard another tremor and he knew that time was almost up. He plunged the sword right into Draxxor's chest, as it began to glow with a blinding white light that broke through the darkness. Draxxor screamed, whatever magic it was, it was causing him great pain, he could no longer hold Harry's legs, as his grip loosened. Draxxor plummeted down, Slytherin's Blade still glowing as it was stuck in his chest. The demon crashed into the crater, just as green smoke burst up. The magic from the sword transfigured the smoke into a pure bright light. The light consumed Draxxor as he fell into the crater. Several anguished screams echoed throughout the Realm before Draxxor remained silent.

"Harry, don't let go, please, find a way back," whispered Ginny's voice from behind the veil and Harry felt hope extinguishing as he spent time in the Realm of Darkness, but he closed his eyes, as he felt Ginny, as Harry allowed her to lead him back home. Harry passed through the veil, as he collapsed to the ground. Just seconds after Harry's feet passed through, the veil burst into flames, before it fluttered to the ground, reduced to soot and the vortex above Hogwarts began to disappear, as Harry and Ginny sat on the ground, with Ginny wrapping her arms around Harry's neck, kissing him, afraid to let him go.

"I thought for a minute, all was lost," said Harry as Ginny backed off from him, as they slowly, shakily rose to their feet. "Really brilliant the way you managed to grab my hand before I completely passed through. That's what saved us, you saved everything."

"We both saved everything," corrected Ginny. "So he's really gone, Draxxor's done."

"Yes, he's finished once and for all," said Harry as the others moved over to check on him. "I'm okay, I wouldn't be if it wasn't for Ginny."

"How touching," hissed Voldemort and Harry saw Voldemort rise to his feet, still injured, as they slowly turned towards Voldemort. It was obviously that whatever Salazar did had worn off. "Our deal has concluded Potter. I will deal with you on my own terms, but here is a sign of things to come. AVADA KEDAVRA!"

The green light erupted from Voldemort's wand and struck the nearest target right in the chest. Everyone looked absolutely horrified.

"YOU BASTARD!" yelled Raph as he rushed forward, as Harry seemed too numb to see what happened, as Ginny had similar sentiments. Several spells were aimed towards Voldemort, along with Raph running forward to physically attack the Dark Lord for what he done. The other three Turtles moved forward to join him, but Voldemort had already used Harry's Portus-Amulet to take himself out of the way, as the motionless body of Master Splinter was on the ground, struck down by Voldemort.


	42. Chapter 42: Calm Between Battles

**Chapter Forty Two: Calm Between the Battles**

Voldemort had departed; there was no question in their minds about that. He had left but as usual, he could not quietly leave without the carnage. Harry stood in numb shock, as he looked down at Master Splinter. He had seen his sensei get knocked down many times in battle, but he always gotten up. This time, he was not going to get up and it was because of the ultimate cowardly act by Voldemort. The Killing Curse, and from Harry's vantage point, Master Splinter's back was turned when Voldemort had fired it at him. It was not surprising and in fact, Voldemort could have hit anyone with that curse, to deliver that parting shot. Harry was brought back to reality by Raph angrily tipping over a desk, as Don, Leo, and Mikey all made a half hearted attempt to restrain him, but they felt they might have just as well let it go on as Raph kicked for a few seconds, before he began to calm down or get as close to calm as he could due to the situation.

"Raph, I know, but…" said Leo, but he just sighed and Raph took deep breaths.

"It's just…he could have…Voldemort…" said Mikey but whatever he tried to get out was failing to get out, as all four of them looked at each other, before they turned to Harry, who averted his face slightly, taking a deep breath. The last thing he needed to do was to break the castle open and kill them all because of the anger that he was feeling, with what Voldemort done.

"Harry?" prompted Leo as he looked at his youngest brother and Ginny stood right by Harry, holding his hand, as Harry turned slightly, taking a deep breath, the image of that green light striking Master Splinter rather fresh in his mind.

"Just give me a moment, Leo," said Harry with a deep breath, closing his eyes trying to calm himself, as Ginny grabbed his hand gently and Harry turned to the others, they seemed to understand, Harry was better at shielding his emotions than most, but still, it was rather obvious that what he had seen bothered him. "I can't say I'm fine but…"

"We know Harry," said Don with a nod, with the others nodding as well. The entire room was silent, it seemed like no one wanted to make a sound to break the silence. Eventually, Alexandra stepped forward, before taking a deep breath and deciding to break that silence.

"I better take my Aurors and see if any Death Eaters are still in the school or unaccounted for on the grounds," said Alexandra and everyone could not argue with this idea. Many of the Death Eaters would not have hesitated to do the same thing that Voldemort did. They were just as bent as Voldemort. Alexandra walked off, leaving the group alone.

"So, now what?" asked Hailey, hoping that someone could fill her in as it seemed like everything had collapsed around them and Harry remained still, without the answers that he normally had. In fact, defeating Voldemort, which seemed like a certainty just moments ago, nearly seemed like an unreachable goal, but Harry would refuse to give this up without a fight. Voldemort could not remain living, to ruin any more lives, kill anymore people.

"We need to make sure there are no Death Eaters lurking on the ground and then regroup," said Lily. "I don't know how…but we've got to try, finding Voldemort might be a problem I'm trying to track him now, but I'm not picking anything distinguishable up."

Lily waved her wand up and down, attempting to pick up something, anything, that could trace Voldemort back to where he had gone. It was an extremely long shot, in fact the odds were pretty much against her in any rate. It was impossible normally to trace the Portus-Amulet, but with a bit of demon magic still in the air, it was scrambling everything else. Still, Lily felt she owed it to everyone to try, but after using every tracking spell she could, her shoulders slumped down, sighing deeply. Everything she had tried had come up blank.

"Nothing, we're going to have to go into this blindly," said Lily in a defeated voice and everyone waited for the next move. "Once the Aurors are done, we need to get out of here. I don't know if Voldemort even used all of his forces at Hogwarts, he might still have some Death Eaters out there."

"You mean even more than he used to fight us here," said Sirius, as there were more Death Eaters than he could keep track of and quite frankly, that was just what he saw, there was no doubt others coming around the school, fighting other groups.

"It's highly possible Sirius, Voldemort has agents all over the world, I don't know if he called all of them or not," said Harry quietly, as he had his eyes in the door, the lingering magic of this room was making him feel still a bit off, not that he would have felt well if they had not been in the room. The magic was taking too long for Harry's liking to fade. "Still, I'm not too fond of another attack of any sort, we managed to catch Voldemort off guard and knock a lot of his followers out of commission."

"I know Harry," responded Ginny. "Next time, he could be the one catching us off guard. Not pleasant but…"

"I need to get him before he has a chance to put together a counterattack," interjected Harry, as he tried to block out the sense of despair. He began to try to piece together a plan to defeat Voldemort for good. Reuniting his soul was first and foremost, but a Voldemort without the benefit of Horcruxes was still a dangerous adversary and would give Harry quite a run for his money. "It won't be easy, it never was, but it's something that has to be done, something that I have to do."

"Not alone, I'll be here and I'm not the only one," said Ginny as several nodded in agreement but Harry firmly shook his head.

"No Ginny, not this time, Voldemort has to be something I finish off alone," said Harry firmly and Ginny, along with Raph, Mikey, Don, Leo, and Hailey all began to open their mouths, with Lily looking like she would like to, but decided it would be best not to, but Harry stopped them. "I know what each of you are thinking and going to say and I appreciate the support, but Voldemort will see you all as a way to distract me, by harming you. You just saw what he did to Master Splinter just because he was there. What do you think he would do to any of you in battle?"

They did not like it at all, but none of them had any choice but to get where Harry was coming. Harry just stood, silent, focused, as footsteps were heard. Most of everyone in the room reached instinctively for wands or weapons, but they relaxed, as Alexandra had returned with a group of American Aurors. They all turned to her; awaiting any news they could be given.

"Well we scanned the grounds and the school up and down twice, we found a group of weakened Death Eaters in three corridors down and several more on the grounds, that were injured, we've had them sent back to the holding facility in the Artic, so we can properly sort this mess out" said Alexandra in a hurried voice. "As far as the school is concerned, I don't think there's anyone left in here but us, unless they are really good at hiding themselves from detection."

"No, there's no one else, the only thing that's detected on the map is the cluster of dots in this room," said Ginny as she consulted the Marauder's Map, looking it over carefully, scanning every corner, but sure enough she found nothing. Everyone nodded, as Lily tapped her wand to a small object the shape of a book of matches. It grew to reveal the Portal Transmat device. They crowded around it, as Lily punched in the coordinates, to return them back to New York. Everyone moved around, with the body of Master Splinter was levitated in the air. Harry turned away from it, and his brothers seemed to also be avoiding looking at his body, yet slowly turning, as if almost hoping that Splinter would wake up and say that everything will be alright. With another press of the button, a blue light engulfed the entire group, as they were pulled back, to New York to the Potter Residence.

Voldemort walked down a darkened corridor, clutching his arm, as he winced, stepping forward. For once in his life, Voldemort was in true pain. He had felt some mild discomfort when his Killing Curse had backfired on Potter, depriving him of a physical body for thirteen years. Being detached from Quirrell's body was not exactly all that pleasant either and Potter nearly burning the flesh off of his body in the graveyard was no picnic. Still, nothing compared to what Voldemort had been put through over the past couple of hours. A duel against Potter that showed that his enemy had improved greatly and truthfully, Potter had caught him off guard, it would not happen again, Voldemort was plotting to make sure of it.

Then there was the demon. Draxxor had been a myth that Voldemort had heard a few times, but seeing the creature before him for the first time had been a real eye opener for him. The fact that Draxxor had used the guise of Dumbledore, one that Voldemort despised and a small part of him feared. The fear had only stretched so far, as Voldemort was one of the few that ever saw Dumbledore for what he really was and plotted the man's demise from day one of his campaign. At first, taking control of the Wizarding World was only a side benefit, but it had become the main objective over time. Voldemort enjoyed holding power over many people, so he went with it, but in the back of his mind, he would eliminate Dumbledore the second he had the chance.

Then after he lost his body, Harry Potter became the object of Voldemort's revenge. For ten years, until Quirrell had arrived in Albania, Voldemort had attempted to plot a way to eliminate a threat to his power. Once the boy was sorted in Slytherin, Voldemort became intrigued, but the intrigue faded when Voldemort realized that the boy did not have the right mind to join him. He might have been considered radical by the conservative standards held by the vast majority of Wizarding Britain, but to Voldemort, he was too idealistic. He wished to save others, even if he refused to acknowledge it. Worse than that, Potter seemed to take it his personal mission to save Wizarding Britain from itself, to revolutionize the thinking inside the walls of Hogwarts and outside. Common stereotypes were beginning to fade. Not dying out, that would never happen, but still, it was of Voldemort's best interests that the world remained stagnant and unchanging. A proactive Ministry of Magic would not benefit Voldemort's interests at all and the world was Voldemort's to hold, but Potter and his associates had no doubt captured and perhaps killed the vast majority of his followers during that raid. Right now, Voldemort had little interest to his Death Eaters, he would always find those who would want power and if they could escape on their own, they were not worth it.

Despite all that, Voldemort respected his enemy's abilities over time, no matter how bothersome he was. He did not like Potter by any means, but he respected his power. Voldemort learned from his mistakes and the one time he treated Potter as a pathetic child instead of a great wizard, it cost him. These thoughts echoed through Voldemort's head, as he made his way down the hallway, before he moved into a storage room off to the side. There was a box of useful potions, many of them with healing properties. Voldemort had used them to prolong the agony of those who opposed them and his stock was running rather low. Since Severus had met his end, the ability to get a wide variety of potions completed had slowed down. Other potions masters had been under Voldemort's thumb, but none as good as Severus.

Voldemort found the items that he needed. He sat down, wincing; the half healed wound on his chest was flaring up. Only three individuals had ever known about this place, himself, Severus, and Bellatrix. Since Voldemort pretty much had guessed that Bellatrix had met her demise in the battle, she had really tempted fate by antagonizing Potter and his loved ones once too often, there would be no chance that anyone could find him here. That suited Voldemort's mood fine, he did not wish for his followers to see him in an injured state. Voldemort took the healing potions one by one, combined they looked to stabilize the damage that the demon's magic did to Voldemort, until the own invulnerability rituals that he placed on his body as an extra layer of protection did the rest. It would just take a few minutes to do so, but Voldemort had all the time in the world. He would wait, before continuing to formulate the back up plan in the unlikely event that his campaign would fail.

In the attic of the Potter Residence, Lily sat, checking over the portable transmat. It had slightly sent them off course to right across the street. It was quite fortunate it was late at night and thus no one had seen them. Lily sat down on a chair and sure enough, even though the circuits had been configured to not short out, the demon magic had slightly scrambled the coordinate controls. Not by much, as at least they were not dropped in the middle of the ocean, but enough that a problem could arise if they ever had the need to use the transmat ever again.

"Come in!" called Lily, as she heard a knock on the door and the door pushed open, to reveal a very tired looking Alexandra, who walked in. "Do sit down Alex; I'm just finishing adjusting the transmat."

"Yes, that would be nice," said Alexandra as she sank down in the chair right across from Lily, yawning, as she shook her head to clear the cobwebs. "It's going to be a busy few weeks, trying to sort this entire mess out with all these people. Trying to sort out everything, who's really a Death Eater, who's been black mailed, who has been put under the Imperius Curse. I had to summon our best potion makers, other than you obviously, to brew that heavy amount of Veritaserum that we're going to need to separate the truth from the lies. Not to mention, I'm pretty sure that what we did was technically illegal, but considering the American Wizarding Government is not part of the International Confederation of Wizards and the Ministry of Magic has been sanctioned, it could be worse, much worse."

"I don't envy you," said Lily seriously. "Wizarding Britain as we know it is pretty much finished, I can't even begin to imagine how many top ranking Ministry officials had dark marks on their arms. And people will expect you to help get a new government up and running. I don't envy you at all."

"Yes, I knew this would happened and if it eliminates Voldemort's hold on Britain, it's going to be worth it," said Alexandra but she just envisioned the nightmare that she was going to be going through over the next several months, up until when her term ended. After that, it was going to be someone else's problem, as she was not going to run again. "Still, after his forces rattled like that, would you really put it pass him to attempt a desperate attack on this country, even with all the protections. I have people keeping an eye on everything but still, I don't know if it would be enough. "

"I wish I could tell you," said Lily in a tired voice, as she made some more calibrations to the transmat. "Harry seems to think that Voldemort is not all that healthy after the beating he suffered in the duel and with what Draxxor did. It's hard to say, with Voldemort, he might be desperate enough to try anything, but this time, he might not be able to. Still, nothing's for sure."

Lily put down a folder full of paper on the floor and directed the portable transmat towards it, before she pressed a button. A blue light engulfed the folder, before the paper was transported across the room, just a few inches away from where Lily would have liked it to be. It was closer than it was a few seconds ago, a few more calibrations and the portable transmat would be properly repaired. Lily continued to tweak the transmat, as Alexandra looked thoughtful.

"It's a waiting game at any rate, I'm going to have to give a speech to the public, they won't be happy that Voldemort's not dead, no matter how many of his followers we brought down," said Alexandra. "Merlin forbid if it ever gives out that Harry kind of tricked Voldemort into declaring war on the American Wizarding Government."

"It won't matter, when Voldemort is done, everyone will have to look at the final outcome," said Lily and Alexandra nodded. "Harry, as much as I hate to admit it, is going to have to do this on his own and he's making plans to do so. I don't want it to happen, but Harry's focus has to be firmly on Voldemort without having to help others. We did our part by helping reduce Voldemort's forces…and…Harry has to do this, no matter how much I wish he didn't have to."

"How is Harry doing after what happened?" asked Alexandra

"As well as could be expected I suppose," responded Lily, but quite frankly, she had no real insight to exactly what Harry was thinking, she could only give her opinion on what she thought. "I don't know if it's completely hit him yet or rather he's not allowing it to hit him yet. He hasn't really lost focus against Voldemort and quite frankly, that'll improve his chances. I just hope his mind isn't really clouded by revenge when he goes against Voldemort."

"So, this will be it though," said Alexandra. "The fate of everything hanging in the balance, I guess."

"More or less, yes, if the prophecy is true," said Lily in a defeated tone of voice, as she continued to tweak the portable transmat device. "As much as I detest acknowledging that certain things are left to fate, everything that the prophecy detailed as happened so far. All that's left is the final duel between Harry and Voldemort, with everything hanging in the balance. Hopefully, once Voldemort is gone, everything will go back to normal or as close to normal as possible."

"We can only hope," responded Alexandra as she rose to her feet, before she walked to the door, preparing to exit, before she turned slightly to face Lily "I've been gone long enough, I hope to get some of this mess sorted out soon, I suspect it will be a while before I get any time at all."

"Right, good bye, good luck," said Lily in an absent minded voice, as Alexandra left, walking from the room and closing the door behind her, before she checked the coordinates on the transmat, before she summoned the folder of paper on the floor. Lily placed the folder underneath it, and pressed the button. Blue light shot out, engulfing the folder, before it transported it to the destined location. After some work, Lily had managed to repair the damage done to the portable transmat. Carefully, she stored it away, ready to use just in case of any emergencies.

Harry sat in the basement of the Potter Residence, deep in thought, having just returned from the lair. His brothers were currently making plans to properly put Master Splinter to rest. Harry offered to say, but they insisted that Harry would be better off preparing to go after Voldemort. They wished him luck, telling him to do what he can to beat Voldemort. So reluctantly, Harry wished his brothers good bye, wondering if it would be for the last time, because despite attempts to block his mind from his thoughts, there was a very real possibility that Harry would be killed in a failed attempt to beat Voldemort. Such thoughts had defeated a great number of warriors in the past, and Harry tried not to think about failure. Still, he also was not going to be overconfident enough to think that defeating Voldemort would be easy.

As for Master Splinter, this time Harry was not blaming himself for his death. After all these years, Harry had learned not to blame things out of his control on himself, rather he put the blame exactly where it belonged, it was Voldemort's fault. The deaths of everyone, Master Splinter, Daphne, Theodore, and many others were Voldemort's fault, no matter what Harry did or did not do.

Still, a small part of Harry wondered if a few years ago, Master Splinter could have easily dodged that killing curse. He had been feeling the effects of age for some time, Harry had been seeing it and he was sure his brothers had seen it as well, but it was something that was acknowledged, not spoken about. Still, Harry reflected to his last conversation with Master Splinter before the attack on Hogwarts. In retrospect, it seemed that Master Splinter had an idea that his time may be up, but Harry's mind was focused on other matters at the time.

_In the lair, Harry moved forward, to let his brothers know that they should report to the American Wizarding Government Headquarters in a few hours. He entered and saw Master Splinter leaning forward in the lair, breathing heavily. Harry moved over, as Splinter saw Harry and forced himself to straight up, before leaning heavily on his walking stick, as he slowly moved over towards a chair. _

"_Ah Harry, I did not expect you this early, sit down," said Master Splinter, as he sank into the chair, before motioning to the chair. "Sit down for a few minutes, I sense you have a long journey ahead of you."_

"_That's one way to put it," said Harry with a nod, as he looked over towards Splinter, his face worn and older than Harry had ever seen in his entire life. "Master Splinter, are you feeling okay?"_

"_Better than I could have ever hoped, I would be foolish to admit that age and injury have not taken their toll," responded Master Splinter. "I am not as young as I used to be, this battle with the Shredder was draining, but once again I had weathered the storm. I have lived much longer than I could expect, the nature of the mutagen prolonging my lifespan to great heights beyond what is normal for my kind. Still, I am proud to say that I have lived long enough to impart my full knowledge on all five of you. At this time, I am at a loss to think much more to teach you all."_

_Master Splinter paused, looking thoughtful, as he looked at Harry with a meaningful expression on his face. A short pause before Splinter continued. _

"_It is not that you are finished learning, but rather I am nearly finished teaching you everything I know, learning never ends in life from beginning to end," stated Master Splinter. "There is so much to learn, even so much that I have not learned and may not ever have the time to learn. Still, to the very last minute, you should not assume that you have all knowledge Harry. Just remember, when I'm finished, it will not be the end, but rather a new beginning."_

"_Of course Master Splinter," said Harry calmly. "If I defeat Lord Voldemort, that will be another new beginning."_

"_It is not the matter if you can defeat Voldemort, it will be when Harry," said Master Splinter in a confident voice. "I have the utmost faith you can do so Harry, everyone does, but as long as you put forth the best effort and fight with honor, no one will think any worse of you, no matter the outcome."_

"_Right, Master Splinter, I really need to get going," responded Harry in an apologetic voice, as Master Splinter nodded in understanding. "Tell Leo, Raph, Don, and Mikey to get to the American Wizarding Government building within three hours."_

"_I will my son, good luck and remember, no matter what, I'll always be with you," said Master Splinter, as Harry nodded, before he walked off, as Master Splinter watched him leave. _

"Harry?" asked Ginny bringing Harry out of his thoughts. Harry turned to Ginny, a neutral expression on his face, as Ginny walked over, greeting Harry with a warm hug, before quickly kissing him, which Harry returned, before they sat down next to each other. "How are you doing?"

"I could be better, but no time right now, it's to Voldemort," said Harry in a tired voice, but Ginny looked alarmed, as if she just thought of something.

"Harry, I know you have to but it's going to be hard, because you only have five of the Horcruxes, so you can't beat Voldemort if his soul is not completely unified," said Ginny, but Harry just responded with a weak smile, before he picked up a large match box shaped object, before he placed it on the table. Harry concentrated, causing the object to grow larger, until it revealed the cage, containing the snake, Nagini, who looked very irritated with being cramped up in a small space.

"I present to you, the sixth Horcrux, Voldemort's pet snake," said Harry and Ginny looked surprised, as she looked over the snake, who was hissing frantically, when it realized that she was not in the presence of her master. "I didn't think Voldemort would make a Horcrux out of a living creature, but that's exactly why it made it so plausible that he would do such a thing."

"What am I doing here, where's my master?" demanded Nagini in an irritated voice, hissing madly, before her eyes gazed up at Harry, narrowing. "You, my Master will make you pay for kidnapping me, he will kill you and everyone you care about. You better return me, he will come after you, do you hear me human?"

"Loud and clear," responded Harry and Ginny looked confused, not understanding the snake. "Oh, she just made some threats about Voldemort coming after me, same old, same old same old."

"Exactly how are you going to find Voldemort after he left?" asked Ginny and Harry just responded with a very calculating look in his eyes. "I know you have something up your sleeve, as usual, but knowing Voldemort, he's not going to make it easy for you to find him."

"Believe me, I know, and I have a plan, remember, Voldemort's vain enough to not ignore a challenge to his power and his status," said Harry, as he began to put a complicated charm to track Voldemort down. "In theory, at least, I should be able to flush Voldemort out with a challenge to a duel to the end. I hope this works, I'll never tried using this trick before. Oh well, here goes nothing I suppose."

A silvery blur shot out the window, to seek out Voldemort. All Harry could do was come to the area that he indicated that he challenged Voldemort to follow him to and just hope that Voldemort got there. It was a waiting game; hopefully the last one Harry would have to play, as the final duel with Voldemort

"Better get upstairs, to tell the others that I'll be leaving to face Voldemort soon," said Harry in a resigned voice, as Ginny nodded, before the bonded pair made their way from the basement, upstairs with the others.

Voldemort rose to his feet, running a few tests on his body but much to his pleasure, all of his injuries had healed. He stepped forward across the chamber, towards a large crate, before he reached forward, opening the top of the crate. A vial lay at the bottom of the crate, as Voldemort reached forward, before he picked the vial, looking it over. Inside the vial was a large dose of the Draught of the Living Dead. Enough to put Voldemort in a deep sleep, essentially putting him in stasis for at least two hundred years. After he woke up, it would be in a world without Harry Potter. It did not matter at this moment that Harry had five Horcruxes, Voldemort still had one, his beloved snake Nagini and since he delivered his parting shot by executing the rodent, Voldemort had felt he had defeated Potter. Reaching through his pocket, Voldemort rummaged for the shrunken cage. After a couple of moments of searching, Voldemort became angered, he continued to search, the snake was not there, he could not find his property.

"No," hissed Voldemort coldly as he looked around, a less paranoid man would have admitted that he might have just misplaced the Horcrux, but Voldemort would not be fooled. He knew that Harry Potter was the one that had the Horcruxes, all six of them, and the means to reunify the souls. Voldemort could not risk, despite all of his precautions, Potter finding him, reunifying all the pieces of his soul, and then kill him when he was under the influence of the Draught of the Living Dead.

A silvery object flew right towards Voldemort. Voldemort spun around, holding his wand, but the object faded, before being replaced with a holographic image on Harry Potter, facing down Voldemort.

"Voldemort, I'm sure by now you've noticed that I managed to take your snake as well, so I have all of the Horcruxes," said Harry as Voldemort was angered by this wizard taunting him. "Now, I'm sure you could hide yourself in a place where I could never find you and properly kill but you will go through the rest of your life knowing that you could never defeat me. Pathetic, the greatest dark lord of all time, unable to defeat a wizard with fifty years less experience than him. Really sad when you come to think about it, Tom, and to think I once feared you. You ran, after striking a defenseless opponent from behind I might add. In many words, you are nothing but a murderous coward, not really a great wizard at all."

Voldemort clutched his hand around his wand, angrily facing Potter.

"Oh, I can here you thinking, how dare you call me a coward, Potter?" said Harry with a bit of a smirk. "Well, I Harry James Potter, challenge you, Tom Marvolo Riddle, to a duel to the death. At two o'clock, the Quidditch field at Hogwarts. I'll be there, will you?"

"I will Potter," responded Voldemort coldly to the image, even though it could not hear him. "This time, I will kill you and recover all of my followers, rebuild everything. There will be no escape this time."


	43. Chapter 43: The Ultimate Showdown Part I

**Chapter Forty Three: The Ultimate Showdown Part One:**

Time ticked by, as Harry stood, looking out of the window, just looking out towards the city, deep in thought. By now, Voldemort would have received Harry's message, providing that everything went right. Something told Harry that Voldemort had gotten the message. Right now, he spent some time just mindlessly staring forward, the seconds of time ticking by. Harry had always suspected this moment, the final battle with Voldemort would come, but now as it approached, anxiety welled up from within Harry. Tapping his fingers on the chair, Harry turned to the clock, it was only an hour away from when he had challenged Voldemort to meet him at Hogwarts. Turning slightly, Harry rose to his feet and stepped forward, a few last minute preparations were being made before Harry walked forward, to face Voldemort.

Harry walked forward towards the kitchen, where a group was sitting, awaiting for Harry to come in. Most were still recovering from the battle with the Death Eaters and still feeling the after effects of Draxxor's army. They would have plenty of time to recover from everything, Harry needed to forge on, go up against Voldemort. They looked up, seeing Harry, nodding to acknowledge his presence. It was a situation where they wanted to say something, but knowing what to say was a barrier.

"All the Horcruxes are ready Harry, they should not give you any problems until you do the spell to reunite them with Voldemort's soul," said Lily quietly and Harry nodded, as he moved forward to the duffel bag, that had been charmed to be able to contain Voldemort's Horcruxes. "Now, are you sure you are ready to do this Harry?"

"I'm as sure as I'll ever be," said Harry weakly, as he moved over, to collect the duffel bag containing the Horcruxes, as he looked to the others. "The ritual, to reunite these soul fragments, to make Voldemort mortal, so I have a chance to end it all, it will be tough, but it's what I have to do, what I must do."

Harry took a deep breath, as he looked at the clock, watching every precious second tick by. Time continued to crawl by, he wondered if it was counting down to his victory or Voldemort's. The desirable outcome was obvious to Harry, but he would be a fool to think that he was assured victory.

"It's got to be done, the world has been ravaged so much by Voldemort's reign of terror, even if he lives and all of his Death Eaters would be captured or even killed, I don't know if we'll ever be safe," said Harry somberly. "He won't be the last one to try something like this, but…he needs to put down today. It won't be easy and if anything happens to me…"

"It won't," said Sirius in a confident voice. "I can see it Harry, you won't let this beat you easily, Voldemort's done, you've come too far to not win."

The others nodded, they had confident in his abilities, which made some lingering doubts resurfaced, he was truly the last hope against Voldemort. Failure was not an option. Harry reflected on the hours of training, studying, preparation, and quite frankly, he wished he had more time than he did, but he would have to make do with what time he did have.

"I know, I will but there is always a chance that this might be the end with me, but if somehow I don't walk out of this alive, I'm dragging Voldemort down with me," said Harry in a confident tone of voice, attempting to assure himself that he was prepared for anything and Voldemort would be finished no matter what. Everyone looked at Harry, but Harry felt that he did not want to give them a chance to speak, so they would not inadvertently manifest any doubts that Harry had been thinking about. "Still despite all of that…everyone will have to do fine without me….should something happen, so if I never see you all again, I wish you all the best of luck with the rest of your lives, I know each and every one of you will survive."

"Harry, I think it would be a good idea if we were the one's who wish you luck," said Luna calmly as she looked at Harry. "And believe me, you'll be just fine…"

"Even if you're thinking that yeah right, I don't feel fine," said Hermione, as she gave Harry an encouraging look. "You've survived before, you're survive this time Harry, Voldemort doesn't have a chance to beat you, not this time, you'll be fine."

"Besides Harry, just like you told me, visualize it happening, and it will come," added Hailey with a smile. "You have the Horcruxes, the knowledge to put them back together, what could go wrong?"

"A lot," muttered Harry before he straightened himself up, seeing the encouraging looks at everyone. The fact that his family and friends had so much faith in him to defeat Voldemort actually gave Harry some weird twisted combination of confidence and nervousness. He took a deep breath, this time, neither him nor Voldemort was going to be done until it was completely settled. "I'm going to be going soon, everything's ready, there's no time to linger around here."

"Harry," said Lily as she got to her feet, facing her son, before she slowly pulled out her wand, the one that once belonged to Salazar Slytherin, before she reached forward, to hand it to Harry. "You don't have a wand anymore, it might make the difference in victory and defeat. I know you didn't exactly like the way it handled, but at the same time…it might help, so please take it."

Harry took the wand from his mother, he did not have the heart to tell her no, but he slowly slid the wand down his sleeve. He resolved to only use the wand as a last ditch measure, if all else had failed.

"Harry, can I see you in the other room?" asked Ginny suddenly and Harry looked at her with a start, before he nodded, she looked really worried. Harry shouldered the duffel bag of Horcruxes, before he followed her out of the room. Ginny shut the door behind her, making sure there was no one who could listen in to them, as she turned to face Harry.

"What is it Ginny?" asked Harry, as she took a deep breath.

"You think you're going to die, don't you?" questioned Ginny quietly.

"There is always a chance that I'll die doing anything," countered Harry as he looked at Ginny, who nodded, grudgingly accepting Harry's words. "Look Ginny, if I could, I would stand here and reassure you that everything is going to be okay, but…look, I'm going to do everything that I can to make sure that…I survive. I'm not saying anything's for sure, there is a chance that anything could happen, but…these are thoughts that I don't really need…."

"I'm sorry Harry," said Ginny, but Harry just looked at her, wondering what she had to be sorry about, none of this was her fault. Ginny stood, wanting to tell Harry that he didn't have go, just because some prophecy said that the fate of the world hinged on the outcome of the battle between Harry and Voldemort, but she could not bring herself to. No matter how she wanted Harry to be safe, it would be selfish to the rest of the world and despite all of her objections that it should be someone else, it had to be Harry. Ginny paused, before she rushed forward, and flung her arms around Harry's neck, before she kissed him, putting everything she had into it, with Harry returning it equally. Both Harry and Ginny felt magic flow in between them, that would have warmed their body even in the coldest night. It was unlike anything that she had ever experienced and Ginny never wanted this moment to end, but as they slowly pulled apart, it was with great regret.

Harry looked at Ginny, staring right into her eyes, briefly forgetting of the existence of Voldemort and everything else that had happened over the past day. It was just him and Ginny, nothing else in the world and now Harry was alarmed, the fact that he might never see Ginny again was giving him serious second doubts. Harry leaned against the wall.

"I can't die," said Harry defiantly as he looked at Ginny, appreciating the beauty of the only girl that he could ever love, bond or not. Harry felt a rush of hatred for Voldemort, the thing that was tearing Harry around from her and from everyone else for that matter. At this point, Harry wanted now more than ever to kill Voldemort, not out of some duty, but to end it once and for all, to secure his future, a future without the specter of Voldemort hovering over him.

"You won't," said Ginny firmly, the kiss having inspired a great deal of hope, erasing some of the doubts, but still some worry, as she grabbed Harry's hand in a comforting matter, before she gazed into his eyes, struggling to keep from getting lost in them. "You're too stubborn, Harry."

Both exchanged a laugh, something desperately needed, before Harry turned the bag over his shoulder and looked at the clock. Time seemed to speed up.

"It's time, Ginny, I love you always, no matter what happens," said Harry, as he pulled Ginny forward into another kiss, both feeling the magic flowing between them. As they broke apart, a content look was on Harry's face, as he brushed Ginny's hair out of her face, so he could stare into her face. She kept on a strong demeanor for Harry, but Harry could see tears trying to force their way out. "It's okay Ginny, I know how you feel, I feel the same way, but I will see you again, love."

"Harry, beat him and come back, I love you," said Ginny as Harry turned, walking off, as he moved outside, leaving Ginny behind. He fought the desire to turn around and rush back towards Ginny, to spend a few more minutes with her, but it was with a heavy heart that Harry had to leave. He had his hands on the door and paused only a few seconds, before he pushed it open, walking out, before he closed the door behind him. Harry kept walking, wondering if he had made the biggest mistake of his life by deciding to go back when Voldemort thought he was dead.

Ginny sank into the chair, contemplating doing something really stupid. She agreed with Harry that anyone that Voldemort seen would be used against Harry if they were in a duel. Ginny had no doubt in her mind that she was on the top of that list. She looked towards the door, Harry's footsteps fading from what happened, possibilities going through her mind. The fact that Harry could beat Voldemort but be severely injured and unable to get out to get help in time was a very scary possibility. A possibility that left Ginny only one possibility that Harry would never ever want her to do. Quickly, Ginny walked to the door, before she quickened her steps up the stairs, before going to the room that her and Harry shared. Pushing the door open, Ginny moved around, before she rummaged through the trunk, pulling out a silvery cloak and a piece of parchment, a quill, and some ink. Gently placing the cloak on the bed, Ginny took the quill and ink, before hastily scribbling a note, that read:

_Everyone,_

_Harry doesn't know, but I'm following him, keeping an eye on him. I won't get in Harry's way, I won't be seen, so none of you try and come as well. Everything will work well and if Harry needs me, I'll be there for him, I have to be. _

_All the Best,_

_Ginny_

Ginny instantly folded the note neatly in half, before she placed it underneath a paperweight on Harry's desk. She quickly moved from the room, before anyone could see her. Sneaking off through the shadows, Ginny listened intently for anyone approaching, but when she saw that no one was coming, she quickly moved towards the front door, pushing it open, before she slipped out. As quickly as she threw the Invisibility Cloak over her and concentrated on Hogsmeade. With a silent pop, Ginny disapparated, preparing to watch Harry defeat Voldemort from afar, even he did not know she was there.

Harry walked out on the Quidditch Field, gazing up towards the sky. It was the sight of some of his greatest triumphs. No matter how many evil forces he played a role in putting down, Harry would be more proud of the victories he achieved as a seeker of the Slytherin Quidditch Team. It allowed him to have fun, without the fate of having the entire world hang in the balance. Harry walked forward, the duffel bag of Horcruxes draped over his shoulder, as he looked around. The demon magic had finally faded from around the air, but Hogwarts was silent, under than the thunder claps in the distance. A storm was brewing, as Harry placed the duffel bag underneath the bleachers, as he waited for Voldemort to show his face. The message had been sent and Harry knew that Voldemort would not let such a mockery of his power slide. Voldemort had an ego the size of a small country and Harry planned to do his best to exploit that to his fullest extent.

Voldemort arrived on the other side of the field. He was angered by Potter's deliberate attempt to bait him. It was a shame, Potter could have lived the rest of his life in peace, but he chose to play the hero by directly challenging the Dark Lord's power. This just confirmed the point that the boy was way too idealistic for his own good, thinking he could protect the weak in the world through his actions. It was a misconception that would allow Lord Voldemort's supreme victory. He leaned forward, seeing Potter waiting for him on the other end of the Quidditch field.

Harry heard another thunder clap echo, as he leaned forward, hoping that the storm would die out. He did not want any distractions. He saw Voldemort's snake like face in the distance, the slit like red eyes staring a hole through him. Quickly, Harry adjusted his footing, before he looked at Voldemort, who walked forward, before he stopped when he was several feet away from Harry. As his enemy approached, the Boy-Who-Lived realized the time for waiting was over, it was now time for battle and Harry fixed his face into a confident expression, as he faced Voldemort. He would have been a bit more confident, if his battle armor had not been damaged severely in the battle with Draxxor and his demons, but still, when it was time to fight, Harry always managed to shove all doubts to deepest part of his mind.

"Potter," said Voldemort calmly as he looked at Harry with utter loathing.

"Riddle," responded Harry with equal calmness. "Decided to finally fight me like a wizard, straight up."

"Potter, I may show mercy if you return my Horcruxes," said Voldemort coldly, intending to take the Horcruxes and kill Potter. "Just hand them over and all will be forgiven."

"I'm not going to fall for that old trick, Riddle," said Harry as he rolled his eyes. "I see you standing before me I can see it in your eyes, no matter what, you can't beat me Riddle. I keep coming back, because I have powers that you never have dreamed of."

"A bluff Potter, you are nothing but a scared little boy underneath all your boasts and I will crack open that shell, exposing what you truthfully are to the world," countered Voldemort with malice, as he gazed at his adversary with utter contempt and pure venom. "So, Potter, you have challenge me, and I, Lord Voldemort, accept your challenge."

"That's nice, Tom, now I believe we bow," responded Harry as he did so, with Voldemort returning, both wizards straightened up, beginning to circle each, not keeping taking one eye off of each other, as they prepared to move for their first attacks.

Voldemort made the first move, firing a jet of orange light off at Harry. Harry quickly rolled out of the way, causing the light to bounce off the ground and harmlessly up into the air. Voldemort swung forward, jabbing his wand at Harry, but Harry put up a shield, before he swerved around to the side. Harry ended up behind Voldemort but in an instant, the Dark Lord turned around. Both wizards faced each other and fired spell as at the same time. Both spells collided with each other in mid air, cancelling the other out, neither opponent budging an inch, not allowing anything to give in this titanic struggle.

Harry and Voldemort locked eyes, as they held their arms out, ready to move in the second the guard was dropped. Both refused to be the one to make the mistake, as they had the spell that they wanted to fire in their minds, just not the moment in time which it would be ideal to use it to do some real damage. Finally, Voldemort aimed his spell at Harry, but it was too soon as Harry only took a half of a step to the side. The spell ended its journey, hitting the ground, and Harry flicked his wrist, sending a twisting white light towards Voldemort. Voldemort blocked the brunt of the spell, feeling a mild electric shock that disoriented him, before Harry propelled himself into the air. Tucking his head, Harry gracefully somersaulted, dodging a barrage of spells, before he landed right off to the side of Voldemort. A grey jagged blast caught Voldemort directly in the right leg. A crack was music to Harry's ears, as Voldemort's leg buckled. Harry sprung right up and managed to fire a kick right to Voldemort's chest. Voldemort caught a second kick and flung Harry off to the side. A black cloud erupted from Voldemort's wand but Harry placed up a shield charm. The cloud ate completely through Harry's shield, but Harry was protected, as he circled Voldemort.

"Stand still, Potter," said Voldemort in an irritated voce, moving in to attempt to set Potter up for the kill, as he healed the injury that Potter had caused his leg, but his slippery opponent had rolled underneath another attempt to subdue him with an organ explosion hex right to the heart. Harry aimed to his feet and both wizards fired powerful spells at the same time. Both spells connected in mid air, a small shockwave echoing throughout the grounds of Hogwarts, but mostly being cancelled out. Another attack of magic clashed together, obscuring the field of vision for both wizards by creating a fog. Pushing the fog away, Voldemort sought out his opponent, seeing him standing off in the distance. Raising his wand, Voldemort sliced it, a black light moving through the air.

Voldemort watched in glee as he saw Potter ripped in half but that was short lived as a kick caught him right in the back. It should have been obvious, the boy had used the holographic image charm to maneuver in easily for another attack. Voldemort raised his wand. A slicing charm to the throat was blocked and a chain shot from mid air, snaking around the Dark Lord.

As he struggled, the chain did its job, keeping the occupant in place. So far, everything was going to plan, but the particles of the chain began to rattle, with Voldemort pulling them apart. The chain snapped apart and Harry quickly removed a dagger, before he tossed it right towards his opponent. Voldemort expertly caught the dagger and transfigured it into a black fireball, before he flung it back towards Harry. The air heated up as the fireball whizzed in the air, but a blast of blue light struck the fireball, freezing it in mid air. It dropped to the ground, shattering into pieces as it hit.

Harry felt slightly exhausted from pulling off that mystic spell to stop Voldemort's dark magic fueled fireball. Rest was not an option, as Voldemort conjured a flaming hot pair of daggers and magically flung them towards Harry. The daggers spun in the air and Harry quickly put up a shield. The daggers pushed against its resistance, Harry could feel the white hot metal pushing towards his face, but he managed to fling them back towards Voldemort. Voldemort cancelled the spells, the daggers vanishing and then he shot black ropes right towards Harry. Harry deflected the ropes right back towards Voldemort, which forced the Dark Lord to slice them before they wrapped around him and eventually contracted to strangle him.

"Potter, you might have kept up with me so far, but you can even see that it is hopeless," said Voldemort, as he rushed forward, aiming the palm of his hand right towards Harry's ear, magically amplifying the attack but Harry blocked the hand, before he twisted Voldemort's wrist and attempted to heave him to the ground. Voldemort landed on his feet and both wizards faced each other. Eyes locked, they both attempted magical attacks. Both clashed in mid air, with Harry taking advantage of the back lash to fling a shuriken at Voldemort. Voldemort blasted it to dust and once again, two spells were fired at each other. They connected, propelling off of each other, as both adversaries circled each other, before they bent at the knees. Springing up into the air, two more spells fired at each other and once again, they collided with each other, cancelling the other out as they hit each other.

From underneath the invisibility cloak, Ginny watched from as close as she could get without getting in the crossfire. Despite the fact she was a long way back, she could still feel the power coming off both Harry and Voldemort, as they attempted to take each other out with a spell, but the spells hit each other in mid air. Once again, the spells continued to cancel each other out when they had hit, as Harry sprung into the air, above Voldemort, intensity in his eyes. Ginny clapped her hand over her mouth when she saw a flesh tearing curse flying towards Harry, but Harry pivoted in mid air, before he attempted to drive both of his feet into Voldemort's head. The dangerous wizard had magically blocked it and sent Harry back with a propulsion charm. Rushing his adversary, Voldemort slashed his wand forward, but the shield Harry put up blocked the spell, even if it had pushed him back a few inches. The shield broke and the second it did, Harry threw a coma curse at Voldemort. This deadly curse only served to keep Voldemort off balance, as he blocked it, before moving around to attempt to keep his sights on his opponent.

"That one almost it, didn't it, Tom?" taunted Harry, as he deflected another curse that Voldemort fired at him harmlessly up into the heavens. A second one was deflected right by at Voldemort, forcing him to cancel his spell just seconds before it hit. "Come on, Riddle, surely you can do better than that."

"CRUCIO!" responded Voldemort and Harry was hit with the full pain curse. No matter how many times he was under this spell, it always was hell, feeling like white hot knives stabbing into his back, but Harry conjured a bright light, shining it in Voldemort's eyes, breaking his opponent's concentration. The next thing the Dark Lord felt was the kick right to the chest by Harry. Harry moved around Voldemort and shackles flew right towards Voldemort. Voldemort managed to melt the shackles before he had shot them in mid air, before he whipped his wand. A loud bang and Harry found himself losing his sense of balance for a few seconds, as he was hit with a mild vertigo curse. Blocking out the dizziness, the loss of his equilibrium, the Boy-Who-Lived worked through the counter spell, managing to fight out, as his deadly adversary stood right across from him.

Voldemort held his wand up, black fire swirled around the Dark Lord. Harry looked up, seeing Voldemort propel it at him but quickly, Harry created a large breeze. Thus, the fire was blown right back in Voldemort's face. The Dark Lord shrieked, as his flesh had been burnt by Potter, much like the encounter of the graveyard and began throwing a series of quick spells at Potter, to throw him off, so he could heal his rotting flesh. Harry gazed over his shoulder, towards the Lake. Water rose up in the air and Harry diverted it right towards Voldemort, the man made tidal wave crashing right at Voldemort. Voldemort was threw back into the bleachers on the Quidditch field, them cracking from the impact of his head going right through them. The impact would have killed a normal person. Given it was Voldemort, Harry felt a minor concussion would be about right.

Sure enough, seconds later, Voldemort burst right up from the wreckage, a murderous look in his red eyes. He whipped his wand right towards Harry, who dodged the attack. Another attack was mostly blocked by Harry, only earning a small cut on his cheek. Leaping around, Voldemort pulled himself up, but quickly, Harry threw all of his power into a blasting spell, cracking what remained of the bleachers, causing Voldemort to be disoriented. Another spell flew flashed right towards Voldemort, who was driven down deeper into the bleachers, the wood splintering into his arms and body, before he pushed off, blasting them forward. Harry quickly vanished the debris and slid underneath. Voldemort spun around, throwing another curse towards Harry. Rocks burst from the ground and Voldemort dodged out of the way, being taken off of balance. Both turned around, circling each other.

"CRUCIO!" yelled Voldemort once again but Harry just dodge out of the way, causing the spell to smash against the goal post. Harry swung around the goal post, which gave him the momentum. Ducking and dodging, Voldemort became more frustrated with his inability to beat Harry. Harry conjured a sword. Grasping it firmly in his hand, Harry rushed Voldemort, swinging the weapon. Voldemort attempted to blast Harry's weapon from his hand, but this was avoided. Just seconds before it would have connected, Voldemort conjured a sword of his own, blocking Harry's assault. The metal pushed against each other, but Harry managed to break Voldemort's created sword. Before another sword could be conjured, the Boy-Who-Lived raised his and stabbed Voldemort right in the wand arm. The metal impaled into the arm, forcing Voldemort to drop his wand to the ground. Blood dripped as Voldemort pulled the sword out of his arm and shoved Harry away from him with a banishing spell.

Harry landed on his feet and thrown daggers spun in the air, right towards Voldemort, preventing him from being able to pick his wand. The daggers crumbled to dust from the counter attack, replaced by fire flying from all directions at Voldemort. Water doused a few of the flames but others yet sizzled against Voldemort's skin. Quickly, Harry back flipped over Voldemort, landing on his feet, and with the next movement, thick metal cables propelled right towards the Dark Lord. The cables cocooned around Voldemort. Angrily, he struggled against the binding, but a wave of magically created synthetic electricity flew from the ground, right towards the Voldemort. This caused Voldemort discomfort, as Harry rushed over and reached forward, he hoisted up the duffel bag containing the six Horcruxes.

Harry unzipped the bag, before the ring, the diary, the pensieve, the locket, the cup, and the snake all were on the ground. He could feel the dark magic calling to him, attempting to tempt him into touching them. It was almost as if they could sense that Harry was going to return them to their original location and attempted to save themselves in one last ditch attempt. Still, Harry focused on the task at hand, as he pulled out the piece of parchment detailing the spell on the ritual, as he saw Voldemort try to break himself free from his containment. Quickly, Harry looked at the paper, giving the ritual one final look, before he began to say the spell.

From within the cables, Voldemort just managed to tear himself free. It took a lot of magic and Voldemort leaned forward, exhausted from the effort, as he looked up to see his Horcruxes on the ground. Eyes widened when he realized what Potter was doing, he moved forward in an attempt to stop it, picking up his wand, but it was much too late. The containers of the Horcruxes burst open, several black shadows revealing the image of Voldemort at several stages of his life, before they turned and soared in the air, straight towards the original soul. Voldemort desperately attempted to blast the soul fragments back, but without the containers to hold them, the shadows propelled themselves right at Voldemort, to latch onto his soul. Without seconds, the soul fragments absorbed into Voldemort's skin, as he screamed, feeling the pain of his soul being magically fused back together, dropping to the ground for a few seconds.

Harry watched, but he suddenly felt a throbbing pain in the area of his head around the scar. A thumping sound echoed in his head, as Harry staggered around, becoming very dizzy. A loud thump and Harry staggered around, if he did not know any better, it was almost like something was trying to break free. Harry placed his hand on his scar, but he withdrew it in an instant, he felt the pain burning into his hand from just placing it on his forehead. Through the haze of his vision this new pain was causing, he saw Voldemort struggle to his feet. Harry prepared to attack, but one step forward and he was slumped over. It suddenly made perfect sense what had happened, the full ramifications of his mother's ritual to see Voldemort's end and allow Harry's survival. Even through the pain, Harry could see everything clearly, and Voldemort had looked more human, but not quite completely reverted back. This sealed it in Harry's mind. The worst case scenario that he had pushed away had been in fact true.

"Potter, you should not have meddled in this magic, look at what it has done to you," taunted Voldemort softly, as he watched Harry's discomfort through his slit like eyes. "Can barely stand up even, pathetic, on your feet and look me in the eye when I kill you. In fact, perhaps I should put you out of your misery, I still hold a small deal of mercy despite what you've done."

"Give me your best shot, you gutless bastard," rasped Harry through the throbbing pain through his scar, as his head felt like he was on fire, knowing the only way to free him of this burden, even if the chances of bringing his own end were high but perhaps when Voldemort…no that was too much to hope for.

"AVADA KEDAVRA!" cried Voldemort and green light flew right at Harry. It cut through the air, in slow motion, but Harry could not have made any movement to block it in his state. The spell struck Harry directly in the chest and he fell to the ground, the world around him fading to black.

_Yes, I went with my original plans, despite nearly changing them because of how similar they were to what happened in the actual seventh book. At least up until removing the Horcrux from Harry that is. Two more chapters to go and then the Heart of the Warrior Series will be completed. _


	44. Chapter 44:The Ultimate Showdown Part II

**Chapter Forty Four: The Ultimate Showdown Part Two:**

Ginny stood, in numb shock as she watched Harry drop to the ground. Her worst fear had been realized, she saw the Killing Curse flying at Harry and he seemed to be unable to get out of the way in time. Ginny breathed heavily, her hands shaking, as she saw Harry on the ground. Voldemort's triumphant, cold laughter tore through her ears, taunting it and it caused Ginny to become extremely angry. She only had one idea in mind, as she flung off the cloak and rushed right towards Voldemort, wand drawn. Voldemort turned and Ginny managed to catch him off guard, viciously blasting Voldemort high into the air. Voldemort landed on his feet, and turned to face Ginny, who threw another spell at her enemy. The Dark Lord blocked the attack, before he turned to face off against the girl. A third spell by Ginny also spiraled right towards Voldemort, but Voldemort blocked it, sending a percussion wave in the air. Ginny was staggered back, but she kept fighting, an intense look etched in her eyes.

"Ah, trying to get revenge when I murdered Potter, girl, you have no concept of power and can't hope to defeat me," said Voldemort in a bored voice, as he blocked a cutting curse right to the throat, before he jabbed his wand forward. Ginny flew into the air and landed on the ground. She attempted to fight back, but Voldemort raised his wand, looking at her, a cold, calculating express in his eyes. "A little taste of pain, before I reunite you two, I believe. CRUCIO!"

Ginny screamed in agony, through the haze she realized that she had no chance to even injure Voldemort, especially since Harry was unable to. The pain was unbearable, Ginny wish for death, as it felt like white hot knives were twisting into every inch of her body. Placing her fingernails on her arms, Ginny pressed on them, attempting to do anything to help dull the pain. It was no good, as the pain from Voldemort's attack still punished her. Time slowed to a mere crawl as the curse did it's work. Seconds felt like hours, as the time ticked by. Her arm shook, dropping her wand, causing it to clatter to the ground. The only consolation was that she would be with Harry soon, but Voldemort would make her last few minutes in unbelievable agony. Ginny looked up, Voldemort's mere presence taunted her but there was nothing that could be done to stop him. In some small way, she wished she could do more, she felt like she had failed Harry.

The body of Harry Potter laid on the ground, a black glow appearing on the area of his forehead around the scar. Light swirled around the scar, as Ginny continued to scream in the background. A shadow began to pull itself out through the scar, causing it to slowly fade by the second. As more of the shadowed personification of the Horcrux pulled itself to the real world, more of Harry's scar faded. Finally, as the Horcrux had completely liberated itself from its prison, as Voldemort continued to torture Ginny, blissfully unaware of what was going on. The Horcrux recognized its original location and twisted, before it shot towards Voldemort. The shadow absorbed itself into Voldemort. Voldemort screamed, as once again another piece of the soul powerfully fused itself to the original. Staggering around, the Dark Lord dropped to his knees, as this one piece of soul seemed more powerful than the rest. The pain was nearly unbearable.

Slowly rising to her feet, Ginny tried to shake off the pain. Her body still ached, but it appeared to be nothing through the pain Voldemort was going through. Quickly Ginny rushed forward, legs aching in pain. Bending down, Ginny picked up her wand, but Voldemort pulled himself up from his knees, standing, slowly turning to face Ginny. Now, instead of his twisted snake like appearance, Voldemort looked like Tom Riddle, after he came out of the diary, aged by fifty years. His black hair re-grew with only the slightest hints of grey but still, his eyes held a cloud murderous look in him as he faced Ginny. The look caused a chill to flow through Ginny's body, she had an idea what was going to come next, but there was no purpose in fighting it. Her mind was slowly slipping, from Harry being pulled away from her, it would be better to be put out of her misery before insanity took hold.

"It's time we say good bye," said Voldemort softly as he lifted his arm, pointing his wand at Ginny, who knew that she had no way out. Voldemort had the wand aimed directly at her and she looked forward, staring Voldemort down, standing straight up, bracing herself for the very worse. "AVADA KEDAVRA!"

Green light flew through the air right at Ginny. Ginny felt the magic flying towards her and she knew before those thoughts passed through her mind, she would be dead. Instinctively, her eyes closed, but yet it should have struck by now. However, the spell had just faded in mid air, before it had reached its destination. Voldemort looked confused as Ginny stood, uninjured and unharmed. At that moment, a shining image appeared and Voldemort looked at it, before he realized who it was. He took a step back in surprise, sending another spell towards Ginny, but the spell once again faded in mid air.

"Potter," said Voldemort as he watched the spectral figure, who nodded, acknowledging his identity. "I don't know what you hope to accomplish by doing this, I defeated you, your finished, nothing but a mere ghost, you can't protect the world, I have won."

"You threw the Killing Curse at me Voldemort, but do you want to know the exact reason why we had to fight?" asked Harry calmly, as he looked forward towards Voldemort, who did not look all that interested. "The prophecy that had caused you to come after me all those years ago, the full prophecy that Trelawney gave to Dumbledore. The one that you obsessed on, the one that you tried to pull out of her mind, but failed, you know that prophecy."

"Tell me Potter then," said Voldemort coldly as he looked at the spectral figure with utter contempt. "If you know it that is, because I bet you don't."

The spectral form of Harry appeared to clear his throat and take a deep breath, before he slowly turned to Voldemort, to recite the faux Prophecy in its full glory.

"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches…Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seven month dies…and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have the power that the Dark Lord knows not…and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives…The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies…" narrated Harry and Voldemort nodded, almost as if he had an clue it was something like this. "You heard the prophecy, but most of them are meaningless words anyway until someone hears them but this one was more meaningless because it was a cloak for the real prophecy, one that put everything regarding Draxxor into full perspective."

Voldemort stood silent, not saying a word, as Harry had his full attention, before words appeared in the sky, swirling into legible writing, allowing Voldemort to read the prophecy as it had been stated all those years ago.

_Throughout the land four great people of grand magical talent will found a school that young people can learn and prosper from. The bond between the four founders will be strong and great, until jealously and deceit rips them apart. The divide shall be no greater than the one who spawns the line of the lion and the one that spawns the line of the snake. The snake will rise to power, earning the respect of his peers and the utter and completely loathing of the lion. The lion will call upon a powerful yet evil force to prove his power is comparable to that of the snake but summoning such a force will put the world in great peril. The snake would barely contain the evil force but by the time the snake traps his foe, the breach between the four founders, especially the one between the lion and snake becomes fractured beyond repair._

_The snake has two offspring who go upon different paths in life. One of the offspring goes upon a path that is not favorable, consorting with the worst that could be possible, and bringing great dishonor to the line of the snake, causing his earlier achievements to be faded into obscurity. The second of the offspring is not blessed with magic as her father, so she flees in shame, marrying in with non magical people until the fact that her and her descendents ever came from the snake was completely forgotten. _

_The dishonored line of the snake spawns a new dark threat that puts the world in grave peril. Born due to the union of the last living female descendent of the snake and a person lacking magical abilities, this person will become bitter and disenchanted, wanting all to fear him. He will succeed to the point where all fear to utter his name and he will believed to be one of the most sinister forces the world has ever seen. _

_The lost line of the snake will have a female descendant, born sixty years into the century. She will be the first in a thousand years to have one trace of magic within her. Despite her greatness, her son will be even more powerful, as he would be born nearly two decades after his mother did. He will be marked by the corrupt forces of manipulation as many would like to use the descendent from the lost line of the snake to achieve their own sinister objectives. _

_The two lines of the snake will have many encounters, with the seventh encounter, should there be a seventh encounter, being the most crucial. The winner of the seventh battle between the two lines of the snake will decide whether the evil of the dishonored line is completely wiped out or the world be enslaved by the darkness. _

_But even before the final, seventh encounter can take place, the great evil summoned by the lion a thousand years previous and its followers will break free from their containment. These creatures will prove to be the greatest evil the world has ever seen and will put every occupant of the world in peril, especially both of the fractured lines of the snake. The outcome of this will factor into the plausibility of the seventh decisive battle between the two lines of the snake coming to reality along with the fate of the entire realm of mortals._

_The outcomes between these two decisive conflicts will decide whether the world engages into a new age of prosperity or plunges into an age of unprecedented darkness. The abilities of the descendent from the lost line of the snake, the one with the Heart of the Warrior, will decide whether the world becomes a better place for us all where the forces of manipulation and corruption become the exception rather than the rule or whether it will get plunged into a nightmare of pure darkness. Only the fates could truly tell for sure._

Voldemort concluded reading the prophecy, everything had made sense, but through his head, he calculated the number of times he had fought Potter. Seven times, as the prophecy indicated, including his past diary self and Voldemort rose up, staring down Harry, triumph in his eyes.

"That was informative Potter, but it doesn't matter to me Potter, because I've won, the world is mine!" shouted Voldemort in a triumphant voice, as he looked at his enemy, who did not seem concerned at all by this. "All will bow down before Lord Voldemort, in time, my armies of followers will be recovered and rebuilt, so you may go onto the other side now, because you are not needed now. It's all over for you now, Potter, leave me."

"The prophecy failed to take one thing into account, one fatal flaw that you made, Riddle," stated Harry in a calm voice. "I might not be in the physical world, but I'm going to be in a few minutes. I'm coming to finish you off, Voldemort, end this once and for all."

"No Potter, you're dead," argued Voldemort softly, in disbelief, there was no way that Potter could have survived the Killing Curse twice. "No matter how much you want to return, death is final, this time the Killing Curse did its job, it's time to bid you farewell, but do not worry, I will send your little girlfriend on her way to join you."

"Once again, the fatal flaw in your plan was once you took my blood, you assured that as I long as my blood runs through your veins, I would always be anchored to this world in some fashion," informed Harry and Voldemort's eyes widened, when he realized this. "I had always suspected this, but I never had any reason to believe so, until now. All your Killing Curse did was detach your Horcrux from my soul. Not your intention, I believe, and not pleasant to get rid of."

Voldemort refused to acknowledge that statement, just standing there. He felt that Potter was bluffing him, but truthfully he had never intended a seventh Horcrux. Dividing his soul into eight pieces could have diluted his power. Perhaps he could have beaten Potter sooner had the unintentional Horcrux. Voldemort turned as Harry looked at him, with a nod.

"It is ironic, isn't it, Riddle?" asked Harry as Voldemort was angered, this thing, nothing more than a ghost was taunting him, the great and powerful Lord Voldemort. "The very thing that caused you to return to the body, will allow me to return to mine. You see, we might have fought seven times, but I refuse to believe that the seventh battle is over. I refuse to give up until I see you finished for good. This isn't over, until I say it is. And I'm coming back to finish this Riddle, this time for good."

Voldemort look on skeptically, as the spectral image began to fade into existence. Magic swirled around the body, before it flowed right towards Harry. The body gave a shudder, as Harry's fingers began to twitch, before he rose up to his feet. Voldemort took a step back, as Harry rose to his feet, pulling himself to his feet, before he sent Voldemort flying backwards with a banishing spell. Voldemort landed on his feet, but Harry quickly shot several razor sharp arrows right towards his opponent. This forced the Dark Lord to deflect them one by one, causing them to crumble to dust which gave Harry time to turn to Ginny. He suspected she might try to follow him, but right now, his only concern was to get her to safety, instead of lecturing her about following him.

"Ginny, get as far away from here as you can!" yelled Harry in an urgent voice and Ginny nodded, as Voldemort had his sight set on Ginny, but Harry quickly landed right in front of his adversary with a somersault. Landing on his feet, Harry gripped Voldemort around the arm and twisted it. A loud crack echoed, as Harry had Voldemort's arm held, but Voldemort managed to fight out, before he landed on his feet. Once again, two spells collided together, as Harry pushed Voldemort back, as he watched Ginny move out of sight, safe and away from the duel. "We end this right now, Riddle!"

"Yes, Potter, we shall and this time I'm going to destroy your body so there's nothing for you to return to," said Voldemort coldly as another two spells collided with each other in mid air, but once again nothing gave. Another two spells fired to each other, but the powerful attacks had caused a mild rumble. They cancelled each other out in time, shaking both adversaries off balance, but they quickly bounced back into the battle.

Both wizards circled each other, preparing to duel and Harry dodged around, throwing a dagger at Voldemort, who deflected it with a spell. A Kusari-Gama shot at Voldemort, in an attempt to impale the Dark Lord with the sickle on the chain. A stone shield stopped this attack in its tracks, before Voldemort twirled his arm, sending a cloud of yellow acid towards Harry. Harry placed a shield of ice around him, which caused the acid to connect and bounce off. Harry then broke the shield, sending the sharp pieces of ice at Voldemort. Voldemort had to send a melting charm to prevent from getting stabbed with them, before Voldemort sent thick black ropes. The ropes wrapped around Harry, contracting around him, attempting to struggle him to death. With each breath, the ropes would tighten more and more, as Harry quickly tried to find a method of escape.

Harry struggled for breath, before he concentrated hard, turning into his Animagus form. A raven flew above the air and dropped down, transforming back into Harry. Miniature earthquakes caused Voldemort to readjust his footing. It was the most powerful magic that Harry felt he could manage without using a wand and yet, Voldemort just remained on his feet. Only one conclusion slowly came to Harry's mind, he had to reveal his final trump card, Slytherin's wand. Several small blasts of fire staggered Voldemort, fighting with a greater intensity than ever since his immorality was removed. The fire faded, as Harry leapt to the side, withdrawing the wand from his sleeve, before he turned to face Voldemort. Voldemort's eyes widened, as he recognized the wand in Harry's hand. It had been lost for many years and Potter of all people had it.

"Slytherin's wand," breathed Voldemort, as he adjusted himself, before he attempted to disarm the wand. In his mind, he was the only one worthy of holding that wand, but Harry expertly blocked the disarming attempt, blocking it, before he dodged around. A concussion curse was sent through the air, its destination aimed towards Voldemort's head. Voldemort's shield just barely held back the spell, forcing him back. A flick of the wrist sent a sonic vibration spell towards Harry. Waves flew through the air but a solid shield appeared around Harry and the vibrations were directed back towards Voldemort. Voldemort yelled, clutching his ears, blood dropping down from them and Harry rushed Voldemort. An attack was avoided, a second one avoided, but the third one connected, with a ring of fire slicing right towards Voldemort. Voldemort blocked the majority of the attack, but his left arm was blistered. The agony caused the Dark Lord to be left susceptible for a jab from Harry's wand. The magical equivalent of the mace smacked Voldemort right in the face. Blood dripped down to his face, as a wall of pure magical energy rushed towards him. An attempt to push back Harry's assault was just barely kept up.

Harry continued to push the magic towards Voldemort. It was a matter of outlasting Voldemort, to kill him. Voldemort staggered, arms and legs seemed to be contorting. His anger rose, before a solid black wall of raw magic slammed against Harry's wall. Both walls continued to push against each other, neither having any give. Never had so much magic been exerted by two people. Harry pushed, Voldemort pushed back, both wizards had fought back and forth, sparks flying in each direction.

"Give up Potter, you might have the better wand, but I'm the better wizard," grunted Voldemort in a taunting voice but Harry just brushed off Voldemort's taunts. "There is no hope for you, give up now."

"Not today, Riddle, not ever," responded Harry, as he attempted to push forward, the magic shaking the ground beyond Hogwarts and even Hogsmeade as well. Both walls of magic begun to merge together before a loud explosion was heard. In the distance, Ginny instinctively put a shield around herself to protect herself, but it still knocked her off balance slightly. Smoke rose from the air around where the two magic walls had overloaded themselves.

Both Harry and Voldemort laid on the ground at Hogwarts, as the smoke cleared. Both warriors struggled up to a standing position, as their wands had been knocked out of their hands. Voldemort's wand laid off to the side, slightly charred, but still usable. However, as Voldemort was on his knees, he saw the Slytherin wand. Harry shook off the cobwebs, as he watched Voldemort dive right towards the wand. Quickly, Harry attempted to beat him for the wand, but a powerful solid shield was wandlessly created by Voldemort. Harry bounced off the shield, as Voldemort gripped the wand of Salazar Slytherin in his hand, holding it with a gleeful expression as he climbed up to his feet, to face Harry properly.

"Slytherin's wand is finally in the hands of its worthy owner, the true heir of Salazar Slytherin, the greatest of the Hogwarts Four," crowed Voldemort triumphantly, as he held the wand in his hand and pointed it at Harry, who shook his head. "AVADA KEDAVRA!"

Instead firing the Killing Curse at Harry, the wand sprung out of Voldemort's hand and landed right back in Harry's grasp. Voldemort's eyes widened, before Harry surprisingly held the wand in his hand.

"It seems if the wand doesn't approve of you, Riddle," stated Harry in a taunting matter and Voldemort moved towards his wand, but Harry bent his knees, leaping up. Both of his feet landed right on Voldemort's right arm. A pair of loud cracks indicated that both Voldemort's arm and his wand had been shattered. Voldemort cradled his arm and Harry magically hoisted Voldemort up into the air, before he flung him across. A cushioning charm took the brunt of the landing and Voldemort sprung up. A blinding black light flew towards Harry's head. Harry recognized it as the mind shredding curse, a very powerful spell that few even had a hope of pulling out. A shield of fire appeared around Harry, absorbing the deadly spell, preventing it from turning his brain into mush.

It was time to end this now, Voldemort could not manage the Unforgivable Curses without a wand but he still had a number of useful weapons at his disposal. Flaming daggers aimed towards Harry, a cyclone of water putting out the fire. Voldemort had some moderately powerful mystic attacks, but none of them could match Harry. A organ explosion curse focused on Harry's heart was blocked, before Harry quickly jabbed the wand. Several razor sharp cables flung forward, stabbing into Voldemort's arms and legs. Blood dripped from the ground and Harry slashed the wand again. Fire flung against Voldemort burning him. Voldemort staggered around, with Harry turning towards Voldemort.

"You can't kill me Potter, even without the Horcruxes, nothing is powerful enough to beat me but the Killing Curse," responded Voldemort, as the one time Potter had threw it at him, caused him to collapse in exhaustion.

"Nothing you know, Riddle," countered Harry, as he held the wand, before throwing his last ditch effort. Harry was nearly certain this spell would beat Voldemort, but what shape it left him would be up for debate. Still, it would eliminate any possibility for Voldemort to be resurrected ever. "ERADO HOSTIILIS!"

A corkscrew of platinum magical energy blasted from Slytherin's wand. This spell had been used only once before in history, to completely eliminate an extremely dangerous dark wizard. It did not only kill the wizard, but erased him from reality, at the price of leaving the caster a squib. Still, Harry kept this spell in the back of his mind and it was pure desperation, the desire to eliminate Voldemort great, even if it did cost him the ability to perform magic.

Voldemort yelled, attempting to fight the effects of the spell, with his magic being rendered unstable. The magic seemed to be slowly destroying him. Potter kept a hold on him, there was no way he recognized this spell, as he looked about ready to collapse, as the magic ripped through the Dark Lord's internal organs, inflaming them. The organs burst one by one, as blood drained from Voldemort's body. The skin rotted off the bones. A standing skeleton was left, before it burst to dust. Harry's Portus Amulet that was around Voldemort's neck dropped to the ground and a black shadow appeared, the personification of Voldemort's recently reconstructed soul. The magic pushed its way towards the soul, causing it to fade without a trace. Harry watched it vanish. With eyes widened, Harry took one step forward, before he collapsed to his knees, breathing heavily.

"HARRY!" yelled Ginny in a panicked voice as she rushed over, moving as quickly as she could towards Harry. Harry was hunched over, looking dazed, rather worse for wear, before he sunk right to the ground Quickly, Ginny knelt down before Harry, who was on his hands and knees, barely able to hold his head up. Slowly, Harry lifted his head up, as he looked into Ginny's eyes, both staring at each other intently. It took a few seconds before Harry had the strength to speak.

"I can never do that much magic again," whispered Harry as he looked at Ginny, as Ginny grabbed his hands, helping Harry to his feet as they both stood up, arms wrapped around each other.

"You never have to again, not for me, not for anyone else," responded Ginny in an encouraging voice, as they looked down at the Portus Amulet and the broken pieces of Voldemort's wand on the ground. "It's over, you did it Harry, he's finally gone."

"It's over," confirmed Harry in a happy voice, before he pulled Ginny forward, into a deep kiss that neither wished to break anytime soon. Voldemort was beginning to seem like a distant nightmare, as they enjoyed the moment, there was plenty of time right now and there would be for some time in the future. Harry held Ginny close to him, slightly hoisting her off the ground, before he deepened the kiss. Both mutually released their triumphant feelings, Voldemort was done. After several moments, Ginny and Harry slowly broke apart, more out of necessity than anything else.

"The Horcrux, your scar, did you know about it Harry?" asked Ginny quietly. She was not accusing Harry, she was just curious. If Harry had knew and did not tell her, she fully understood his reasons for not telling her. If she had knew, Ginny could not have said she would have been of supportive as Harry going off to face Voldemort as she did. Harry remained silent, he seemed to be contemplating if he had even exactly knew.

"A part of me has always suspected, thanks to the connection I nearly had against Voldemort, but I tried to block that thought from my mind, especially if I was wrong," replied Harry thoughtfully, as he looked at Ginny. "It does explain how I gained odd insights about how Voldemort worked that helped me survive the duel with him. Still, Voldemort taking my blood was a blessing. Had it not taken it, I would have been killed to release the Horcrux from my scar, and there would be no way back."

"Thankfully it worked out," said Ginny, as she leaned back, before she looked bright and hopeful. "What about the wand, why didn't it work for Voldemort?"

Harry paused, in deep thought, truthfully it was as much of a mystery to Harry about why Slytherin's wand refused to work to Voldemort.

"The wand always did seem to me like it had a mind of its own," remarked Harry after a few minutes. "This time, it worked out well, as it didn't feel Voldemort was worthy of using it, so it returned to me. At least, that's what I've guessed, it's magic, you can never really tell."

"Well, I don't have a better explanation, so I suppose that we'll have to do," replied Ginny with a smile, before both her and Harry laughed, before Ginny voiced another concern she had." Now what happens, you destroyed his body, how are you going to prove he's really gone?"

"Ginny, this had a drawback of Voldemort having no body to show, but I have his destroyed wand, that is something that no one would have been allowed to walk off with had he survived," explained Harry and she nodded in understanding. "But, it had more benefits than drawbacks, as it destroyed Voldemort. Not just killing him, but utterly erased his essence from existence in both this world and the next. No magic can bring him back, but I just hope that I haven't lost the ability to do magic."

"It doesn't matter to me," replied Ginny but she could see that it was bothering Harry. Squibs were considered to be misfits in both words, but she gripped Harry's hand in an encouraging matter. "Try it Harry, you can still do it, I believe in you."

Harry took a deep breath, holding Slytherin's wand in his hand, before he aimed it towards the Portus-Amulet on the ground. Attempting to summon it to him, Harry closed his eyes, just waiting for it. After an anxious few seconds, the Portus-Amulet flew right towards Harry's hand. Harry nodded in triumph, as he clutched the amulet in his hand, taking a deep breath, he was still a bit fatigued from finishing Voldemort off.

"Well, I guess I still do magic, but it's going to take a bit more I can do it without becoming fatigued," responded Harry as Ginny nodded in understanding.

"So do you want to go to whatever's left of the Ministry and tell that what happened?" asked Ginny and Harry nodded, before Ginny leaned forward slightly, before picking up Voldemort's wand. "Okay Harry, give me the Portus-Amulet so I can take us there, you shouldn't really have to do any more magic than you half to."

Harry handed the Portus-Amulet off to her, allowing Ginny to snap it around her neck, as she handed the pieces of Voldemort's wand to Harry. Tapping her wand to the Portus-Amulet, while thinking of the Ministry of Magic, both were transported from the quiet Hogwarts Grounds. Seconds later, they would end up in the Ministry of Magic, to inform them all about Voldemort's demise at the hands of Harry.

_One final chapter, which is really just not all that eventful, just putting the finishing touches on the entire series and then we can call Heart of the Warrior Book VII to a halt. As any future tales for this universe in the future…well, you never know. _


	45. Chapter 45: The End

**Chapter Forty Five: The End**

Both Harry and Ginny dropped down right in the corridor of the Ministry of Magic. A few seconds really drove home the point exactly how much of the Ministry had joined Voldemort either out of choice or out of fear. Still, there was a decent number of individuals left at the Ministry, enough for Harry to reveal the demise of Voldemort, so Wizarding Britain will be able to heard. Several people in the lobby had their eyes snap up, as they saw Harry and Ginny stand there. They all gasped, a few of them stepping back in fear. Truthfully, those two were among the last two they suspected to see here. Most reacted in fear, for different reasons, depending on the individual, as they looked at the bonded pair, almost not knowing what they could say to them. Still, despite this, they could feel the power that Harry and Ginny exhibited.

"You shouldn't really be here, either of you," said a Ministry official, bravely speaking up to end the silence, but even then, he was looking over his shoulder, as if he thought someone was going to jump out of the shadows and kill him. A tense look on his face preceded him to continue. "If You-Know-Who learns that you are here, we can't allow either of you to leave, until he gets here, someone might inform him for all we know."

"Then he would be informing a dead man," responded Harry calmly, but all this got him was looks of pure confusion. To elaborate, Harry had removed the two shattered pieces of Voldemort's wand, before he held them up. Many Ministry officials crowded around, others came down onto that level, looking at Harry in shock. "Voldemort's done, this time for good. I did something to him where he'd never return, no matter what, something that I won't hesitate to do to anyone else who threatens my friends and my family. Spread the word that there is no need to fear any revenge from Voldemort's followers anymore and the government will be restructured soon enough."

"So all of you can return home for right now, and if you have any students at Hogwarts, don't worry, they'll be returning soon enough" added Ginny with an encouraging smile, and the Ministry officials exchanged looks, before they took a few tentative steps towards the door.

"Now wait a minute, you can't leave here, the Dark Lord will make this little liar pay…" started a woman but Ginny quickly fired a stunning spell. The power was such that the woman was knocked backwards, causing her to crash into a desk.

"Anyone else want to doubt Harry's word?" asked Ginny in a dangerous voice, and the Ministry officials, even those who had sympathies towards Voldemort, began shaking their heads, as they moved towards the door, before Harry turned to Ginny.

"Have I ever told you how much I loved you?" asked Harry.

"Not in the last couple of hours," replied Ginny with a smile, which caused Harry to grab her by the shoulders and pull her into a long kiss. Several of the Ministry officials brushed past them, not wanting to interrupt their moment, after seeing Ginny's display of power. They broke apart, looking into each other's eyes. "However, I never doubted it for a moment."

"And neither do I," said Harry, as they looked around, to make sure everyone in the Ministry had cleared out. Quickly, they moved up to the lift, to check whether or not some had not come down when they had heard the commotion. At all times Harry and Ginny kept their wands at them. Neither of them would put it past some crazed Voldemort supporter to curse them when they had realized he had been destroyed by Harry. They reached the floor with the broadcast room to the Wizard Wireless. Exiting the lift, the two moved across the corridor, and walked right towards the broadcast room. Opening the door, Harry moved over the Rune, opening up the Ministry frequency to override the wireless.

Once he was sure it was open, Harry began to inform everyone of what had happened and hopefully answer some questions to where they would go from here.

"Good evening everyone, please state me for a very important announcement regarding the fate of Wizarding Britain," announced Harry, as Ginny sat right beside him. "Now, as you are aware, I have in fact survived when Voldemort had claimed me to be dead. He was mistaken and believe me, I regret not returning right away. Not because I thought I could beat Voldemort, but because all of the lives that were ruined when this country was at his mercy, abandoned and isolated from the rest of the world. However, that is the past, what done is done, but we look forward to hopefully moving on from this dark time, as Lord Voldemort has been finished off, this time for good."

Harry sat silently, as those words sunk in for everyone who listened on the other end.

"I don't know how many of you will believe he's gone, he's returned before after all, but I will tell you this, the spell that I used on him ensured that he will never return and no doubt people will frown on this spell as well had they knew the specifics, but if it saves lives, it will be worth it," said Harry calmly, as Ginny gripped his hand for support. "The battle of Hogwarts had several followers of Lord Voldemort captured. Now, many of these followers might not have joined Voldemort willingly. The American Wizarding Government is trying to sort this entire mess out. Be patient, several people may be returning home to rejoin their families soon. If they are found guilty of willingly join Voldemort…I don't know what to tell you. They must live with the choices they have made."

Harry paused, telling no doubt several worried parents about what had happened to their children was not going to be easy. Taking a deep breath, Harry decided to explain this.

"Now, your children, that was tricky, what Voldemort done was appalling, he had all the students of Hogwarts put under the Imperius Curse, using them as cannon fodder to fuel his armies against the attempts to liberate Hogwarts," said Harry grimly. "Thankfully, the symptoms were recognized and all the effected people were just subdued with a minimum of injuries. They are currently being treated and I don't know any more specifics, but I think they'll be released when we are sure that there are no more after effects of the Imperius Curse."

Harry took a deep breath. It was difficult to explain the future, when he did not know exactly how the Ministry would be salvaged.

"The future of the Ministry of Magic is uncertain at best, but once the undesirable and corrupted elements have been purged from this government, it will be rebuilt, perhaps better than all," theorized Harry as he took a deep breath. "I encourage all magical governments around the world to help, but only if they don't have their own agendas. If you use the weakened state of Britain as an excuse to place your government in a better standing, it will do this country no good and will actually put the rest of the Wizarding World in a worse place. This is the center and once the center is obliterated, the rest of the world collapses around it. Remember, no matter what happens, it is in your hands rather it's a new beginning or the beginning of the end. I'm hopeful that in time, Britain will rebuild itself to be something better than it was and it can be done without my help. Remember, remain patient, more information will be given about the future of the Wizarding World in the coming day. Good bye and good night to everyone."

Harry deactivated the connection to the Wizarding Wireless, before he rose to his feet, with Ginny doing the same. The two walked towards the door, out of the Ministry of Magic. No doubt the world would be recovering from Voldemort for years to come, but Harry hoped for its sake that it would recover in time. In the meantime, Harry made plans to distance himself from Wizarding Britain. It would have to learn to stand on its own, without Harry having to bail them out of every situation.

Outside the Burrow some time later, Ginny and Harry arrived, now joined by Ron, as they walked up to the doors. Many others had slowly returned to Britain to help seek out family members, holding out hope that they had managed to fall underneath Voldemort's radar during his reign of terror. Moving forward, Ginny raised her arm and knocked on the door three times. Behind the door, there was no answer.

"Mum, Dad?" questioned Ginny, as she pushed the door open, before she stepped inside, walking into the house, where footsteps were heard. They moved forward, all three of them holding their wands up, as a tired and worn looking form of Arthur Weasley walked forward, holding his wand, but his expression brightened slightly when he had seen his two youngest children alive, after not seeing them for quite some time.

"Ginny, Ron," said Arthur in a relieved voice, but he looked rather tired and worn down. "I had always hoped that you managed to get out alive, Molly always held out hope until the end and Harry…I understand what you had to do, others might not, and it did work out in the end. You-Know-Who is gone, I just wished it was a long time ago, before all of the losses."

"What do you mean, Dad?" asked Ginny but she had an idea what he was talking about and knew how badly her mother had taken what happened to Bill, the thought that there was a chance that she lost two more of her children. "She's…."

"Yes, Ginny, just a few months ago, she tried to remain strong for us, but living every moment of our life in fear that something would happen, we were watched over by Death Eaters, just in case any of you returned," explained Arthur. "Fred and George had tried to rebel, they just barely made it out of the country, no one really knows where they are but that was about all that Molly could take. She stopped eating, stop care about life, living in misery before her death. Granted, she was not the only one who had given up, others did, but she always hoped that one day this country would be safe enough for you to return."

"It was, but way too late," stated Harry in a grim tone of voice. "I just wish I had been able to beat Voldemort sooner, he hadn't made it exactly easy…"

"There are always things that we wish we had done differently, Harry," interrupted Arthur, waving up Harry's protest. "It's all in the past, we need to look forward to what happens next. Nothing we do can change what happened."

"At least he's gone," said Ron calmly, with Harry and Ginny nodding in agreement. "He won't be able to hurt anyone else again, I suppose, but we'll have to live what he did for the rest of our lives."

"Right Ron, we're still sorting out exactly who willingly joined with him and who was black mailed, coerced into doing so," responded Harry. "It's going to take sometime, before it's found out who can trust to be rebuilt. The government as it was failed to work. Centuries ago it did, but it became stagnant, and with that, Voldemort took control. It has to change, no question about it."

The representatives of several magical countries from around the world stood around in the chambers of the International Confederation of Wizards. They awaited the representative for the American Wizarding Government to arrive. The rumors they heard ranged from the plausible to the ridiculous, a wide variety of accounts coming out of Britain. Potter's message on the Wizengamot indicated that Voldemort had been defeated once and for all, but over seventeen years ago, there had been word that had happened as well and he had returned. They were not going to take anything regarding his demise without proof, he had managed to cheat death before and could once again.

Alexandra walked into the chambers, mentally preparing herself to deal with a great number of politicians, many of which who had their own agendas. She personally thought that Harry handled himself well enough, after what was certainly a draining encounter with Voldemort. Her Auror departments were working overtime, transferring guilty parties to their secure holding facilities in the Artic, to pay for their crimes. Many of them would be executed, had they been citizens of the American Wizarding Government, but now they could only be held.

"The International Confederation of Wizards acknowledges the presence of American Wizarding Government Madam President Morgan," stated a voice as several sets of eyes fixed themselves directly towards Alexandra, who stood their, nodding. "We require all of our questions to be answered, do you understand?"

"I will do the best I can with the information I have," said Alexandra. "However, I must echo the statements given by Harry Potter. You did what you had to do, by isolating yourselves from Britain, even though it condemned the people to be under Voldemort's thumb. However, with Voldemort gone, Britain needs your help now more than ever. Since we're independent from the International Confederation of Wizards, the American Wizarding Government will help reestablish Britain to a workable government. I do hope that you help Britain as well, not out of your own personal agendas, but an effort to better the Wizarding World as a hole."

"Why should we help them, though?" asked the Russian representative roughly, as he looked at Alexandra and the others with distaste. "That Voldemort would not have survived in our country, we would have wiped him out when he began to threaten us. If you ask me, we should just leave them to whither and die, it is the price for their weakness."

"I say the Americans have no right to hold prisoners," remarked the Albanian representative. "The Dark Lord was in charge of the country, they did nothing illegal. In fact, invading the country was illegal, I say we lock up Harry Potter and all of his followers for the assassination of the Dark Lord and for war crimes against the Wizarding World."

"Lord Voldemort had no right to the country, he wasn't fairly elected, he committed murder," argued the French Representative, shaking his head towards the Albanian representative, who looked at Alexandra with a cold look, but she did not back down. "All Harry Potter did was remove the tyrant from the country and it was the old government's fault that the country fell into the despair it did. The citizens shouldn't be held accountable; they never could have fought off Voldemort with the Ministry corrupted. The French Ministry of Magic has agreed to do what is necessary to restore the British Ministry to a state that will benefit everyone. Even if it means withdrawing from the International Confederation of Wizards, it is all we can to preserve Britain."

Several of the representatives of the government seemed to nod their heads, agreeing, as France was among the most powerful governments in the world. If they had withdrew, the International Confederation of Wizards would lose a great deal of power and standing in the Wizarding World. Alexandra stood, before the Albanian representative turned to her, with an accusing look etched in his eyes.

"If you ask me, this government harbored Harry Potter, not telling the world that he remained alive, perhaps something would have been done about Britain, had the Dark Lord not had free reign," said the Albanian representative. "Even then, why did they not help us when they could have? They just sat back, not giving a damn about the rest of the world, until the Dark Lord threatened their own security."

"I'll tell you why," responded Alexandra firmly, as she looked at the members of the International Confederation of Wizards, to show that she was not going to allow herself to be intimidate. "The laws that the American Wizarding Government were founded on prevented us from taking a more assertive stance on the Voldemort, that prevented us from getting involved in matters that didn't benefit the magical people of the United States of American. Only when Voldemort declared war on us is when we could fight his forces. Did we wish that something could be done sooner? Of course we did and we would have, but the laws didn't really allow us to do so."

"What about the students of Hogwarts?" demanded another member of the International Confederation of Wizards. "What's with the rumors that Voldemort had them put under the Imperius Curse to use them to keep his hold of Britain?"

"What Harry told you all was what happened," responded Alexandra. "Many of them will be sent home within the next day, others will be kept under observance, getting the help they need. None were killed, which is a small miracle in itself and we regret the necessity that we had to fight them, but Voldemort proved himself to be desperate enough to do anything."

"A final question, Voldemort was said to be destroyed but managed to bring himself back to life before, what is stopping him from doing so again?" asked one of the representatives skeptically. "In another ten years, what's stopping him from returning, to attempt to take control all over again?"

"He's gone this time, he managed to keep himself alive by making Horcruxes," said Alexandra and several representatives looked confused, the one's knowing what she was talking about looking absolutely appalled at the lengths Voldemort would go to remain alive, to avoid certain death. "For those who don't know, Horcruxes require a murder to properly split the stole. Half of the split soul could be stored in a container, called a Horcrux. No matter how much damage the physical body would undergo, Voldemort couldn't be killed. Doing this multiple times allowed Voldemort to grow even more powerful, increase his chances of immortality. In the end, the soul was split into seven pieces, including the final piece in Voldemort's physical body, the piece that was in exile all of those years."

"So, he's gone then, Potter just managed to track down all of these Horcruxes," stated the Russian Representative roughly and Alexandra responded with a nod.

"Yes, he did, he found them all, the soul was pieced back together, making Voldemort mortal once more and allowing Harry to finish him off," said Alexandra in confirmation. "I know that Harry wouldn't have told you of Voldemort's demise, had he not had ample reason to believe that he was killed. So, yes, Voldemort's gone this time, for good."

"What gives you the right to hold the alleged followers of the Dark Lord?" asked the Albanian Representative, in a confronting manner. "I believe they should be returned to Azkaban, until the Ministry is restored and then they can be tried once a proper Ministry is established. Holding them against their will is wrong, they have a right to a proper trial..."

"They will be getting a trial, but right now, there is no Ministry, so the American Wizarding Government will be taking the responsibility of ensuring that the followers of the Dark Lord don't get put back on the streets and threaten lives again," said Alexandra calmly, not losing her cool. "Returning these disruptive forces to Britain would be the last thing they need. I don't know that much about your countries, but I know enough that you don't have the facilities to hold a vast number of fugitives like we do."

"Madam President Morgan is correct, France has a decent prison, but nothing like Azkaban or the rumored American Wizarding Government facilities," said the French Representative. "On behalf of the French Ministry, we extend our blessings to the American Wizarding Government to hold the disgraced ex-followers of Lord Voldemort, atoning for their crimes."

"Russia also agrees with this and also suggests for the motion to be passed for execution of these vile criminals," stated the Russian Representative roughly, having no sympathy whatsoever for the Death Eaters.

"We can only extend our influence so far on these British citizens, we did in fact sanction the country, refusing to acknowledge them as a legitimate part of the Wizarding World," stated a voice. "Now, we must put this matter to a vote. All representatives of the International Confederation of Wizards in favor of joining the American Wizarding Government in reconstruction Wizarding Britain raise your hands and let it be known."

The vast majority of hands of the representatives rose their hands into the air. Alexandra stood, nodding, for a few seconds, she had worried that the American Wizarding Government would have had to taken this endeavor on their own and thus not had been able to devote the full attention to their people. However, once the vast majority had agreed to help, a tremendous weight was lifted off of her shoulders. In retrospect, she had gotten off rather lucky with the amount that she had to do as the Head of the American Wizarding Government. Trying to pick up the pieces of the Ministry of Magic was more difficult than everything else she had to deal with combined and she also felt some understanding towards Harry, after all he had done to attempt to fight Voldemort. And it was not even his job to do so, he had no duty, no obligation, but he did it. The least she could do was to help pick up the pieces and secure a better future for generations to come. Harry set the ball in motion by finishing off Voldemort, now Alexandra had to follow through.

"Very well, the International Confederation of Wizards will do all that is necessary to help rebuild the Ministry of Magic," concluded a mysterious voice that helped run the Confederation. "Motion passed, we encourage you to return to your respective Ministries, to enlist the aid of the governments to make this work."

Harry sank down into the chair in the Potter Residence. Ginny and Ron were spending time with their father, in hopes that their brothers would return, once word at reached them of Voldemort's heat. Absent mindedly, Harry had the wand of Salazar Slytherin in his hand, looking at it. It really made the difference in the end, despite his discomfort that the wand was controlling him, rather than him controlling the wand.

"Harry, didn't hear you come back," said Lily as she entered the room, Harry's eyes snapping up, when he saw his mother, who nodded towards his direction, with a smile. "You finally did it, Voldemort's done and gone, the world is a lot safer place as well and most importantly, you can finally rest."

"I'm glad that he's gone," replied Harry. "I thought for a minute that no matter what I tried, he would still keep coming back, haunting me for the rest of my life but…it's over. I don't know if I could ever do anything like that again…"

"You never will have to again," interrupted Lily, raising her hand to silence Harry, before she looked at her son's face for the first time. "Harry, did you notice that…"

"My scar's gone, yeah, it was Voldemort's unintentional seventh Horcrux, when I was hit with a Killing Curse, it was released, fused right back into Voldemort's main soul," explained Harry casually and Lily looked a bit mortified that Harry would actually take a Killing Curse, mostly because it was something that she would have done had she been in that situation. "Dying actually isn't very painful at all, it's just coming back that's the painful part, but I digress. There is something that I want your opinion on."

"Of course Harry," encouraged Lily, as Harry placed the wand on the table.

"This wand, in the heat of the battle, it was knocked out of my hand and Voldemort picked it up, he tried to use it, another Killing Curse in fact, and it jumped out of his hand, back into mine," said Harry slowly and Lily nodded, showing that she was following him. "The wand worked well for me, but why wouldn't it work for Voldemort? It's almost like it didn't see him worthy, but even wands that are normally not owned by the wizard using it still work, not well, but they work. And certainly, once it's used against the owner, it doesn't behave that way."

"The myth of the wand of Salazar Slytherin was the wand could never be used by anyone intending to perform acts of evil," said Lily thoughtfully. "Whether or not it's true, I really can't say. Given what you told me, it's highly plausible that the wand refused to acknowledge Voldemort's right to use it and recognized him as intending to commit evil acts with it. It knew you were the one in the best position to be able to stop those acts, so it returned back to you. It's really strange when I think about it, but we know that Salazar Slytherin was one who made sure no one really came across his secrets, unless they were worthy. Voldemort found the Chamber of Secrets, but you found the library, a greater treasure and one that could be more dangerous. The locket was just a mere heirloom, you pulled Slytherin's Blade from the hat, a greater treasure and more useful when it comes down to everything."

"And the fact that partially speaking, I'm a reincarnation of Slytherin also helped matters," responded Harry but at this statement, Lily looked extremely skeptical.

"Maybe, but think back to the Prophecy, the line that spawned Voldemort was disgraced, the line that we came from was considered to be the more worthy of the two, and the wand would act accordingly," said Lily before she shook her head. "Of course, I could be just explaining something that really has no explanation. I've learned enough to know that magic can be far from logic."

"Well, at least we have something to go on," said Harry and Lily responded with a nod, along with a small smile, before a noise echoed from the basement. Quickly, Harry got to his feet, and he saw the figures of his four brothers rising up the stairs. They looked at Harry, with approving smiles, a bit strained, but the fact that the killer of their sensei had been brought down had caused them to be in a slightly better mood.

"Harry, we just heard the news, congratulations," said Don.

"Yeah, way to make Voldemort pay for what he did," added Raph.

"You sure showed him Harry," continued Mikey and Harry just nodded, as Leo stepped forward.

"I think I can speak for all of us, and yes Master Splinter as well, that we are proud of you and hope that you never have to do anything like that again," added Leo, as they nodded in agreement, looking at Harry with an approving look. "We'd really love to stay and get the full story of what happened, but…"

"I know," said Harry as he rose up to his feet, but Raph and Mikey shook their heads.

"We know you want to help us Harry, but you just defeated the most dangerous Dark Lord that ever lived, you deserve some rest," stated Mikey firmly and the others agreed. "So savor the moment, if anyone deserves to not do anything you do."

"Yeah, trust us bro, if we need any help making the arrangements, we'll be sure to get in touch, good bye and once again, congratulations," said Raph as the others waved Harry off.

"Okay, good bye everyone," said Harry, as now without Voldemort to occupy his mind, the full extent of the death of Master Splinter sank in. Harry felt an empty hollow feeling, much like he did when Daphne and Theodore had been killed, but he could almost here Master Splinter lecturing him in his ears about not letting this get to him and Harry was not going to. He would pay his last respects to his mentor, his sensei, his adoptive father once the time had come and try to live, because that's what Master Splinter would have wanted him to do.

"I know he would have been proud of you as well, we all are Harry," said Lily calmly. "Now why don't you go upstairs and get some sleep, let someone else take care of things for a change."

Harry rose to his feet, about to say that he was not tired, but a yawn betrayed that motion. He moved up the stairs, towards his room, ready for a good long rest. His adrenaline had just worn off, the combined efforts of Draxxor and Voldemort had taken more out of Harry than he thought he even had, but both had been finished once and for all.

Several hours later in the twilight of the evening, Harry and Ginny walked around the city of New York, just enjoying each other's company, the thought of being together without the constant shadow of Voldemort looming over their shoulders. Briefly, Ginny had stated that Charlie, Fred, and George had returned to the country, once word had reached them that Voldemort had been eliminated. Percy was still missing and it was hard to tell if he would ever make amends with his family or rather evnen if he was either alive. Harry stopped, before he turned into the alleyway.

"Here is the spot where Dursley left me," responded Harry in a calm voice, pointing inside the alleyway. "I should really thank him for it. After all it helped set me on the path to where I am today. It allowed me to have a proper family, make friends, fall in love with the most beautiful girl in the world, and save the world from Voldemort."

"Everything worked out, Harry," said Ginny, as she leaned against Harry, as they watched the sun set in the distance. "I think with Voldemort gone and his Death Eaters imprisoned it's the beginning of a bright new world."

"I hope it is Ginny," said Harry, as they turned slightly, kissing each other as the sun set on one era of Wizarding history and would rise the next day on a brand new era.

Harry had come a long way from the scared little boy who had been abandoned in that alleyway all those years ago. For years to come, many would argue exactly who and what Harry Potter was. He had the Heart of the Warrior, the Soul of Fire, he was the Boy-Who-Lived, the Chosen One, and the defeater of Lord Voldemort many times over, marked by the lightning bolt scar, to those who studied his exploits in the history books. Only those who really knew about Harry, they knew him as someone who would do anything to help out his friends and family, loyal and caring, but would not back down for a fight when pushed, especially when it threatened the ones he loved. To them, Harry Potter was defined as something much more, something greater than all the titles he was given and the long faded scar.

**The End**


End file.
